■2  "a 


.-    * 

"5    «T* 


The  MAKERS  of  MAINE 

ESSAYS  and  TALES  of  EARLY 
MAINE  HISTORY,  FROM  the 
FIRST  EXPLORATIONS  to  the 
FALL  of  LOUISBERG,  IN- 
CLUDING the  STORY  of  the 
NORSE  EXPEDITIONS. 


BY 

Herbert    Edgar   Holmes ',    L,L.  B. 

STATE  LIBRARIAN  OF  MAINE 


THE  HASWELL  PRESS,  Publishers 

lewiston,  maine' 

1912 


TO  THE 

RIGHT  REVEREND  LOUIS  S.  WALSH,  D.  D. 

BISHOP  OF  PORTLAND 

THIS   BOOK   IS  DEDICATED  IN  RECOGNITION 

OF  HIS  EFFORTS 

IN  BEHALF  OF  THE  GREAT  HISTORY 

OF  OUR 

STATE  OF  MAINE 


TABLE  OF  CONTENTS 

CHAPTER  I. 

^Maine's  Position  in  History.  9 

CHAPTER  II. 

The  Sons  of  Eric.  17 

CHAPTER  III. 

The  Viking  and  the  Catholic  Church.  23 

CHAPTER  IV. 

The  First  Expedition  of  the  French.  33 

CHAPTER  V. 

The  Port  Royal  Expedition.  44 

CHAPTER  VI. 

Marc  Lescarbot. — His  Character  and  Writings.      50 
CHAPTER  VII. 

The  First  French  and  Indian  Alliance.  57 

CHAPTER  VIII. 

De  Poutrincourt  and  Lescarbot  Leave 

Acadia  and  Return  to  France.  65 

CHAPTER  IX. 

Biard  and  Masse  Are  Chosen  from 

Jesuit  Volunteers  to  Go  to  Acadia.  70 

CHAPTER  X. 

How  the  Jesuit  Relations  Came  to  be 

Written  and  Their  Historical  Value.  74 

CHAPTER  XL 

Father  Biard  Describes  His  Voyage 

across  the  Atlantic.  80 

CHAPTER  XII. 

Various  Historical  Authorities  Compared.  89 


CHAPTER  XIII. 

Troubles  and  Disputes  at  Port  Royal.  101 

CHAPTER  XIV. 

The  Death  of  the  Sagamore  Membertou.  105 

CHAPTER  XV. 

The  First  Mass  Said  in  Maine.  110 

CHAPTER  XVI. 

The  Argall  Outrage.  118 

CHAPTER  XVII. 

The  Jesuits  Are  Carried  to  Virginia 

and  England.  129 

CHAPTER  XVI II. 

Miracles  in  Maine.  133 

CHAPTER  XIX. 

Waymouth's  Voyage. — He  Captures 

Some  Indians.  138 

CHAPTER  XX. 

Strange  Ill-Luck  Pursues  the  English 

Efforts  to  Colonize  Maine.  146 

CHAPTER  XXI. 

Ferdinado  Gorges  Become  Lord  of  Maine.  153 

CHAPTER  XXII. 

Some  Interesting  Laws  and  Prosecutions.  160 

CHAPTER  XXIII. 

The  First  Deed  from  an  Indian  Chief  and  Herein 
Concerning  Our  Titles  to  Our  Lands.  166 

CHAPTER  XXIV. 

Conduct  of  the  English  Towards  the  Indians 

as  Proven  from  English  History.  173 

CHAPTER  XXV. 

England's  Title  to  Maine  Obtained  by 

Treachery  and  Maintained  by  Violence.  180 

CHAPTER  XXVI. 

An  Eloquent  Indian  Chief.  185 

CHAPTER  XXVII. 


The  Civil  War  Between  De  La  Tour  and 

Aulnay  Charnisay.  190 

CHAPTER  XXVIII. 

The  Interesting  but  Little  Known  History 

of  the  Capuchin  Missions  in  Maine.  197 

CHAPTER  XXIX. 

The  Famous  Mission  to  the  Abenakis 

Indians.  201 

CHAPTER  XXX. 

Father  Druillettes'  Diplomatic  Mission 

to  Boston.  204 

CHAPTER  XXXI. 

The  Romantic  History  of  Father  Sebastian 

Rale,  S.  J.  208 

CHAPTER  XXXII. 

The  Relentless  Persecution  of  Father 

Rale  by  the  English.  214 

CHAPTER  XXXI II. 

Father  Rale's  Influence  Upon  the  Indians.  221 

CHAPTER  XXXIII. 

Death  of  Father  Rale. — Two  Widely 

Different  Accounts.  226 

CHAPTER  XXXIV. 

Some  Reflections  Upon  the  Cause  and 

Effects  in  History.  235 

CHAPTER  XXXV. 

The  Fall  of  Louisberg  and  the  Part 

Taken  Therein  by  the  Men  of  Maine.  242 

CHAPTER  XXXVI. 

Looking  Backward.  247 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS 

First — The  Abenaki  Indian  Scouts  on  their  way  to  warn 
Father  Rale  of  the  coming  of  the  English 
Soldiers. — Frontispiece. 

Second— The  Norsemen  Explore  the  Coast  of  Maine. 

Third — Portrait  of  Samuel  de  Champlain. 

Fourth— Father  Biard  S.  J.,  and  the  French  Soldiers  take 
possession  of  Mt.  Desert  Island  and  the 
neighboring  shore,  and  in  honor  of  the  Holy 
Redeemer  name  the  place  St.  Sauveur. 

Fifth— Champlam's  Map  of  Port  Royal,  Acadia,  from 
the  works  of  Champlain  published  under 
the  auspices  of  Laval  University,  Quebec, 
1870. 

Sixth— Father  Sebastian  Rale  S.  J.,  preaching  the  true 
faith  to  the  Indians  on  the  Bank  of  the 
Kennebec. 


Copyright,  1912 
by 
THE  HASWELL  PRESS 
ALL  RIGHTS  RESERVED 


PREFACE 

This  series  of  historical  essays  and  tales  of  history  is  offered 
to  the  public  with  the  hope  that  it  may  be  found  interesting  read- 
ing, at  least  in  parts.  It  is  not  consecutive  historical  narrative; 
indeed,  it  may  appear  rather  disconnected;  but  the  attempt  to 
write  a  connected  and  consecutive  history  of  Maine,  or  of  any  part 
of  the  history  of  Maine  is  hereby  expressly  disclaimed.  For  that 
reason  it  may,  perhaps,  be  found  interesting  to  other  readers  be- 
sides Maine  people.  The  book  covers  a  period  of  our  history 
which  is  of  as  much  interest  to  a  Canadian,  and  to  a  Westerner 
as  to  the  sons  of  Maine.  For  the  matter  of  that,  if  it  were  of  inter- 
est to  none  but  sons  of  Maine,  it  would  interest  a  very  large  number 
of  American  citizens,  for  the  sons  of  Maine  are  to  be  found  in  every 
state  in  the  union.  The  fact  that  it  is  a  series  of  essays  and  tales 
may  recommend  it  to  many  readers,  because,  on  that  account  it 
may  be  read,  a  chapter  here  and  a  chapter  there,  as  one  chapter 
or  another  treats  of  subjects  of  especial  interest  to  particular  per- 
sons. 

The  series  of  essays  appeared  first  in  the  Catholic  Opinion. 
a  weekly  published  in  Lewiston.  It  was  received  so  kindly  and 
cordially  that  I  was  tempted  to  rewrite  the  series  and  publish  the 
same  in  the  form  of  a  book.  I  fell  into  the  temptation,  and  here 
is  the  result. 

How  it  happened  that  I  came  to  write  these  essays  and  tales 
in  the  first  place  is  this:  I  had  always  felt  a  bit  of  exasperation 
every  time  I  read,  in  the  work  of  one  or  another  historian,  a  slur, 
a  sneer,  or  an  abusive  statement  about  the  French  missionaries 
and  especially  the  Jesuits,  who  have  done  so  much  for  the  cause 
of  religion  and  civilization.  Some  historians,  (we  need  not  men- 
tion their  names)  are  openly  hostile  to  the  Jesuits,  frankly  opposed 
to  taking  any  view  of  our  early  history  which  would  be  creditable 
to  the  Catholic  Church  and  her  missionaries.  Although  I  have 
not  mentioned  the  names  of  any  of  these  yet,  lest  I  may  be  charged 
with  drawing  on  my  imagination  or  of  being  prejudiced  myself 
I  will  refer  the  reader,  for  corroboration,  to  certain  volumes  of  the 


PREFACE 

Maine  Historical  Society  Collections,  and  to  a  certain,  well  known 
history  of  Nova  Scotia. 

Other  historians  again,  like  Francis  Parkman  and  John  Fiske 
(and  I  count  Parkman  the  chief  exponent  of  this  class)  give  great 
credit  and  high  praise,  enthusiastic  praise,  to  the  Jesuit s,  whenever 
contemplation  of  the  deeds  of  the  Jesuits  seems  to  fire  their  imagi- 
nation, but  on  the  other  hand,  as  if  by  way  of  compensation,  we 
find  them  every  now  and  then  taking  a  sly  dig  at  "the  crafty  and 
unscrupulous  Jesuit,"  almost  as  if  they  were  forced  to  do  it  as  an 
act  of  homage  to  their  native,  in-bred  prejudice  and  hostility  to 
the  Catholic  Church. 

This  characterization  of  the  historians  does  not  apply,  of 
course,  to  those  who  have  written  in  the  French  language,  Cana- 
dians mostly,  concerning  the  history  of  New  France,  which  neces- 
sarily includes  the  early  history  of  our  State  of  Maine.  Nor  would 
it  be  expected  to  apply  to  such  admirable  historians  as  John  Gil- 
mary  Shea,  translator  of  Father  Charlevoix's  "History  of  New 
France,"  and  Father  Campbell  of  the  Society  of  Jesus  who  has 
published  a  history  of  the  Jesuits  in  North  America. 

What  we  Catholics  object  to,  and  what  I  have  in  mind,  is 
such  false  history,  and  false  deductions  from  historical  facts  as 
we  find  in  "popular  history,"  the  kind  of  history  taught  to  the 
public  school  children,  and  even  in  the  collections  of  the  Maine 
Historical  Society  in  such  articles  of  the  Collections  as  that  of 
J.  Wingate  Thornton.  It  is  a  pleasure  to  be  able  to  say,  however, 
that  now  and  then  a  non-Catholic  writer  has  had  the  courage  to 
speak  the  truth  about  the  Jesuit  missionaries  and  the  position 
of  the  Catholic  Church  in  the  early  history  of  Maine.  Such  a 
man  is  the  Hon.  John  F.  Sprague  of  Dover,  Maine,  author  of  the 
little  history  of  the  Jesuit  mission  to  the  Indians  at  Norridgewock 
in  which  he  tells  the  story  of  the  life  and  death  of  the  great  and 
good  Father  Sebastian  Rale,  S.  J.,  who  is  at  last  coming  into  his- 
own  true  position  in  history.  This  historian,  Mr.  Sprague,  de- 
serves much  credit,  not  only  for  his  broadminded  view  of  history 
but  for  his  sympathetic  understanding  and  enthusiasm  for  the 
great  and  romantic  history  of  our  State.  An  address  of  his,  deliv- 
ered before  the  Bangor  Historical  Society  March  4,  1912,  deserves 
to  be  preserved.  A  few  of  his  words  in  this  address,  which  I  con- 
sider to  be  gems  of  historical  statement,  I  will  quote,  if  for  no  other 
purpose  than  to  impress  upon  my  reader  that  here  in  the  early 
history  of  Maine  is  a  great  field  of 'romantic  history  as  yet;  little 
cultivated.     "And  peering  through  the  mists  of  the  past  centuries 


PREFACE 

of  American  history  we  see  them  (the  Jesuit  missionaries)  here  on 
the  Penobscot,  this  advance  guard  of  civilization,  so  strange  and 
remarkable,  pioneers  so  unlike  any  that  had  gone  before  them. 
By  the  side  of  the  soldier  with  sword  and  musket  that  France 
had  sent  to  subdue  a  new  world  and  erect  the  New  France,  marched 
these  fearless  defenders  of  the  faith  with  crucifix  and  prayer-book 
full  of  the  burning  fires  of  pious  zeal  and  a  grim  determination  to 
rescue  from  the  bonds  of  Satan  a  whole  continent  of  savages." 

And  again,  another  quotation  from  this  address,  as  it  expresses 
a  point  of  historical  fact  which  I  have  made  much  of  in  the  course 
of  these  essays:  "That  piece  of  the  new  world,  which  Charles  I 
gave  to  Ferdinando  Gorges,  and  which  the  Massachusetts  colony 
subsequently  purchased,  was  bounded  on  the  east  by  the  Kennebec 
River,  and  all  that  territory  between  the  Kennebec  River  and  the 
St.  Croix  was  originally  a  part  of  ancient  Acadia.  After  Massachu- 
setts purchased  it,  however,  theoretically,  and  from  her  point  of 
view,  Penobscot  River  was  the  east  line  and  later  on  it  was  exten- 
ded to  the  St.  Croix;  but  these  contentions  of  the  colony  were  al- 
ways strenuously  resisted  by  the  governors  of  New  France,  even 
after  the  treaty  of  Utrecht  in  1713.  So  ours  was  ever  disputed 
territory.  These  controversies  were  the  cause  of  many  of  the 
Indian  wars  throughout  the  Province  of  Maine,  for  the  Indians 
were  as  a  rule  loyal  to  the  French.  For  several  years  after  the 
treaty,  that  wonderful  character  in  the  colonial  history  of  Maine, 
Sebastian  Rale,  from  his  mission  at  Norridgewock,  with  a  bravery 
and  determination  seldom  equalled,  continued  his  adherence  to  the 
Acadian  rights  of  New  France  to  this  territory.  But  in  1724  Mas- 
sachusetts decided  to  end  it  all  by  killing  Rale  and  his  devoted 
Indian  followers,  and  burning  up  his  mission. 

All  of  this  story  of  these  territorial  contentions,  which  affected 
eastern  Maine  as  well  as  the  whole  colony  of  Massachusetts  is 
teeming  with  historical  facts,  which  have  too  long  remained  buried 
in  the  debris  of  receding  time." 

Many  more  words  I  would  like  to  quote  from  this  address 
but  it  is  not  necessary,  for  I  believe  that  from  the  foregoing,  I  ha\e 
shown  that  at  least  one  broad-minded  non-Catholic  historian  has 
the  true  appreciation  of  the  grand  history  of  this  portion  of  our 
American  soil.  And  perhaps  I  have  shown,  further,  that  the  ex- 
cuse and  justification  for  my  essays  and  tales  of  early  Maine  history 
is,  to  borrow  the  quotation  employed  by  Mr.  Sprague  in  his 
address, — "The  harvest  is  plentiful,  the  laborers  few." 

It  goes  without  saying  that  no  one  can  write  history,  except 


PREFACE 

he  be  chronicling  contemporaneous  events,  if  that  can  be  called 
writing  history,  without  quoting  from  some  prior  historical  writing 
which  he  considers  authority.  And  it  is  in  this  quoting,  and  in 
the  deducing  from  the  quotation,  that  we  find  and  apply  the  true 
test  of  the  worth  of  the  writings.  If  a  writer  will  not  take 
the  trouble  to  find  and  quote  from  the  original  and  best  authority 
or  will  not  faithfully  and  honestly  deduce  the  facts  from  the  origi- 
nal authority,  then  he  fails  himself  to  be  authority  to  his  readers. 

Knowing  this  well,  I  have  endeavored  throughout  these 
essays  to  quote  only  from  the  original  sources  of  history,  except, 
of  course,  where  I  have  quoted  from  others  than  the  originals  mere- 
ly for  the  purpose  of  comparison  or  criticism.  For  the  doings 
of  the  Je-uit-  I  have  quoted  from  the  Jesuit  Relations.  I  con- 
sider them  the  best  and  only  authority  upon  the  question  of  the 
acts  of  the  Jesuits.  And  moreover,  I  do  not  understand  how  any 
fair-minded  man  can  read  those  Relations  without  being  absolutely 
convinced  of  the  truth  of  every  word  written  in  them.  Yet,  as 
I  have  said  before,  many  respected  historians  have  utterly  disre- 
garded the  authority  of  the  Jesuit  Relations  in  writing  the  history 
of  this  period,  and  have  traversed  and  contradicted  the  statements 
of  the  Jesuit  Fathers  in  their  Relations,  without  any  authority 
for  so  doing,  except  their  own  presumptuous  disbelief. 

.Most  writers  of  history  follow  the  practise  of  citing  their  au- 
thority for  their  various  statements  in  foot-notes  at  the  bottom  of 
the  page  I  have  preferred  to  reject  that  method  entirely  partly 
because  this  book  is  not  a  history,  as  I  have  said,  but  chiefly  be- 
cause I  think  it  makes  it  easier  for  the  reader  to  learn  the  author's 
authority  in  the  course  of  the  text  instead  of  having  to  continually 
drop  the  text  to  refer  to  a  foot-note. 

When  I  first  wrote  the  essays  as  a  series  of  articles  for  the 
Catholic  Opinion,  I  did  not  have  access  to  the  edition  of  the  Jesuit 
Relations  which  combines  the  original  with  the  English  translation, 
the  edition  edited  by   Dr.  Thwaites  of  Wisconsin.  I   had  only 

the  three  volume  edition  in  French  published  in  1858  at  Quebec 
by  authority  of  the  Canadian  government.  This  is  a  very  useful 
edition,  and  is  prized  by  historians,  not  only  for  its  scholarship, 
but  also  for  the  fact  that  it  is  becoming  almost  as  rare  and  scarce  as 
the  original  Cromoisy  edition  of  which  it  was  intended  to  be  a 
reprint.  Afterwards,  when  I  was  revising  and  rewriting  the  series 
for  publication  as  a  book,  I  was  able  to  get  access  to  the  Thwaites 
edition  and  was  thus  enabled  to  compare  and  correct  my  own 
translations  with  the  translations  made  by  the  editors  of  this  great 


PREFACE 

edition.  I  have  also  amplified  my  original  quotations  from  the 
Quebec  edition  of  the  Relations  by  quotations  from  the  English 
translations  in  the  Thwaites  edition.  Following  my  rule  not  to 
make  use  of  foot-notes,  I  have  not  given  credit  to  the  Thwaites 
edition  for  quotations  in  the  course  of  the  book;  but  I  wish  now  to 
express  my  indebtedness  to  this  monumental  and  scholarly  edition 
for  the  great  help  that  I  have  derived  from  it,  especially  in  my 
rewriting  and  revising  of  the  original  articles. 

All  historians,  and  particularly  all  who  appreciate  and  admire 
the  Jesuit  missionaries  and  their  achievements,  will  owe  a  debt  of 
gratitude  for  many  years  to  come  to  the  learned,  able  and  cons- 
cientious editors  of  this  scholarly  work. 

There  are  several  editions  of  Champlain's  Voyages  both  in 
French  and  in  English,  the  one  which  I  have  used  and  quoted  from 
is  the  French  edition  published  in  Quebec  in  the  year  1870,  by  La- 
val University. 

For  the  historical  writings  of  Marc  Lescarbot,  without  which 
any  writer  of  the  history  of  this  period  would  be  sadly  handicappe  d 
I  was  singularly  fortunate.  It  happened  that  at  the  time  when  I 
was  revising  the  articles  for  publication,  the  Champlain  Society 
of  Toronto  was  issuing,  among  other  historical  works,  Lescarbot 's 
"Histoire  de  la  Nouvelle  France"  with  both  an  English  translation 
and  the  original  French  text.  Only  two  volumes  of  Lescarbot 
had  been  published,  but  they  brought  his  history  down  to  the 
close  of  the  Port  Royal  expedition  and  settlement  in  which  he  him- 
self had  been  an  actor  and  participant.  Therefore  for  all  my  quota- 
tions from  Lescarbot's  History  of  New  France  I  am  indebted  to 
the  Champlain  Society,  and  I  hereby  acknowledge  my  deb^  with 
gratitude  and  pleasure. 

The  few  quotations  that  I  have  made  from  the  writings  of  the 
Rev.  Fr.  Charlevoix  S.  J.,  have  been  taken  from  John  Gilmary 
Shea's  fine  edition  of  Charlevoix,  but  I  have  compared  them  with 
the  French  edition  published  in  Paris  in  the  year  1744,  more  from 
curiosity  than  otherwise,  for  no  one  will  find  any  errors  in  Shea's 
translation. 

In  various  places  I  have  quoted  from  the  writings  of  John 
Fiske,  from  Hannay's  History  of  Nova  Scotia,  Wlliamson's  His- 
tory of  Maine,  the  Collections  of  the  Maine  Historical  Society,  and 
one  or  two  other  historians,  but  usually  for  comparison  with  the 
original  historical  authorities,  to  show  how  those  writers  have  de- 
duced conclusions  from  historical  facts  different  from  what  I  'be- 
lieve the  facts  warrant. 


PREFACE 

The  material  for  the  first  few  chapters  which  treat  of  the    "voy- 
iges  and  discoveries  of  the  Norsemen,  isto  be  found  in  the  Norse 
ry  of  America,  publishes  by  the    Norroena    Society.      Like- 
wise,  the  English  translation  of  the  Letter  of  Pope  Alexander     VI 
is  from  the  Flatty  Book  of  the  Norroena  Society. 

The  quotations  from  Waymouth's  Voyages  are,  of  course 
from  Rozier's  Narrative,  and  like  the  other  material  dealing  with 
the  English  voyages  and  settlements  are  easily  accessible  in  many 
different   publications 

In  conclusion,  1  will  say  that,  even  with  all  the  historical  writ- 
ings that  have  been  published,  the  field  of  history  comprised  in 
the  period  from  the  first  explorations  down  to  the  final  change  of 
sovereignty  from  F ranee  to  England,  and  more,  down  to  the  Revo- 
lution, is  a  very  fertile  field,  as  yet  but  imperfectly  cultivated. 
It  is  such  an  interesting  and  romantic  period  of  our  history,  the 
facts  of  history  are  so  interrelated  and  intertwined  with  the  events 
which  go  to  make  the  history  of  the  other  original  colonies,  of  Can- 
ada, of  the  Great  West,  that  there  is  plenty  of  room,  and  much 
need,  for  work,  for  research,  and  for  writing. 

There  are  so  many  strange  and  interesting  events,  and  strange 
and  interesting  characters,  and  so  little  has  been  written  about 
them.  There  is  Ferdinando  Gorges'  feudal  fief  of  Maine;  there  are 
the  voyages  of  Captain  John  Smith  which  ended  so  disastrously 
each  time.  There  is  the  romantic  story  of  Claude  and  Charles 
de  la  Tour,  and  the  civil  war  waged  for  years  between  the  younger 
de  la  Tour  and  Aulney  de  Charnisay,  like  two  barons  of  the  Middle 
Ages.  And  there  is  the  story  of  the  Castins,  father  and  son,  for 
whom  the  town  of  Castine  is  named.  On  the  religious  side,  there 
is  the  Capuchin  mission  on  the  Penobscot  and  the  Kennebec,  about 
which  so  little  is  yet  known. 

And  finally,  speaking  of  the  religious  side  of  our  history,  we 
come  back  to  what  1  began  with, — the  great  history  of  the  Catholic 
Church  in  those  days,  the  great  work  of  the  missionary  priests  for 
the  Indians  which  is  still  to  be  seen  to-day,  for  such  an  anomoly 
as  a  Protestant  Indian  in  Maine  is  unheard  of.  This  history  has 
been  so  much  misrepresented  and  misunderstood  for  these  many 
years,  until  now,  of  late  years,  a  better  knowledge,  a  clearer  light, 
has  come,  and  those  great  missionaries,  and  Druillettes,  the 
Bigots,  Father  Rale,  have  at  last  come  into  their  own,  and  are 
receiving  a  belated,  but  to  make  up,  an  enthusiastic  credit  from 
Protestant  writers.  Pr  testant  writers  perceive  and  admit  that 
in  the  history  of  that  period  the  Catholic  Church  and  its  mission- 


PREFACE 

aries  are  bound  up  with  the  best  of  history,  and  not  the  worst,  as 
used  to  be  taught. 

I  hope  that  this  contribution  to  history  may  help  to  arouse 
and  keep  alive  an  interest  in  and  a  love  for  the  great  and  romantic 
story  of  the  early  days  of  our  beloved  state,  and  the  equally 
romantic  story  of  our  beloved  Church  in  those  days.  I  know 
my  own  limitations  as  a  writer,  and  the  limitations  and  weak- 
nesses of  this  series  of  essays  and  tales  of  history.  It  is  with 
trepidation  that  I  offer  it  to  the  public.  If  I  were  intending  it 
it  as  a  serious  history,  to  be  subjected  to  the  critical  scrutiny  of 
historical  scholars,  I  would  not  at  all  dare  to  send  it  forth.  But 
as  it  is  not  intended  as  a n  end  in  itself, — a  history,  but  only  as  a 
means  to  an  end,  the  arousing  of  interest  in  history,  I  do  not  fear 
so  much.  I  hope  it  will  be  received  kindly  by  true  scholars  and  his- 
torians, and  that  all  who  read  it  may  find  at  least  one  chapter  in  it 
which  will  prove  interesting  reading.  My  pride  in  and  my  loyalty 
to  the  State  of  Maine,  and  my  pride  in  and  loyalty  to  the  Cath- 
olic Church  with  its  great  history,  of  which  the  history  of  the  early 
days  of  Maine  is  only  one  chapter,  is  at  once  my  excuse  for  its 
weaknesses,  and  my  justification  for  sending  it  forth  with  its 
weaknesses,  and  in  spite  of  its  weaknesses. 

To  the  Knights  of  Columbus,  and  to  the  members  of  the 
Maine  Catholic  Historical  Society,  who  have  helped  me  with  en- 
couragement and  with  subscriptions  to  the  volume,  and  to  all  oth- 
ers who  have  helped  in  like  manner,  especially  the  members  of  the 
Bar  of  Maine,  I  here  tender  my  sincerest  thanks. 

THE   AUTHOR. 
At  the  State  Library, 
Augusta,  Maine, 
this  second  day  of 
December  A.  D.  1912. 


"On  che  brow  of  the  hill  that  slopes  '.o  meet 

The  flowing  river  and  bathe  its  feet, 
The  bare  washed  rock,  and  the  drooping  grass, 

And  .he  creeping  vine,  as  the  waters  pass; 
A  rude  and  unshapely  chapel  stands, 

Built  up  in  that  wild  by  unskilled  hands, 
Yet  the  traveller  knows  it  a  house  of  prayer, 

For  the  sign  of  the  holy  cross  is  there. 
And  should  he  chance  at  that  place  to  be, 

Of  a  sabbath  morn  or  some  hallowed  day, 
When  prayers  are  made  and  Masses  said 

Some  for  the  living,  and  some  for  the  dead, 
Well  might  that  traveller  start  to  see 

Tall  dark  forms  that  take  their  way 
From  the  birch  canoe  on  the  river  shore 

And  the  forest  paths,  to  that  chapel  door. 
Marvel  to  mark  the  naked  knees, 

And  the  dusky  foreheads  bending  there, 
While  in  course  white  vesture  over  these, 

In  blessing  or  in  prayer, 
Stretching  abroad  his  thin,  pale  hands, 

Like  a  shrouded  ghost,  the  Jesuit  stands." 

— Whitlier 


CHAPTER  I 

MAINE'S   POSITION   IN    HISTORY 

This  State  of  Maine.  This  land  of  the  whispering 
pines.  This  land  of  beautiful  scenery,  with  its  forests 
of  mystery,  with  its  romantic  history  which  so  few 
know,  and  so  few  have  the  sympathetic  interest  to 
understand. 

People  of  Maine  travel  to  other  countries  in  search 
of  scenery.  They  go  to  Norway  to  see  fiords.  The 
coast  of  Maine  has  its  own  fiords  as  beautiful  and 
majestic.  They  go  to  Switzerland  for  mountains  and 
lakes.  The  lakes  and  mountains  of  Maine  are  in  every 
respect  as  grand  and  inspiring.  They  travel  to  the  west 
and  the  Canadian  northwest  in  search  of  primeval 
wildernesses.  In  Maine  there  are  vast  forests,  in  many 
of  which  the  whole  territory  of  the  Commonwealth  of 
Massachusetts  could  be  set  down,  and  it  would  require 
the  aid  of  a  guide  to  find  the  borders  of  Massachusetts. 

It  was  not  so  with  the  adventurous  knights  errant 
of  the  ocean  in  the  fifteenth  and  sixteenth  centuries. 
They  were  greatly  attracted  by  these  shores.  Let  us 
quote  the  following  passage  from  De  Puyster's  "Dutch 
in  Maine," — "How  few  are  alive  to  the  glorious  and 
varied  beauty  of  that  zone  of  islands  which  commencing 
with  the  perfection  of  Casco  Bay,  terminates  with  the 
precipitous  seal-frequented  shores  of  Grand  Manan. 
Of  all  the  archipelagoes  sung  by  the  poet,  described  by 
the  historian,  and  depicted  by  the  painter,  there  is 
none  which   can   exceed   in  its  union  of  charms  these 


io  The  Makers  of  Maine 

two  hundred  miles  of  intermingling  land  and  ocean, 
where  lost  in  each  other's  embrace,  the  sea  seems  in 
love  with  the  land  and  the  shore  with  the  foam  crested 
waves." 

Rosier,  historian  of  Weymouth's  voyages  (1605), 
gives  the  following  comments  on  a  river  explored  by 
Weymouth,  formerly  supposed  to  be  the  Penobscot, 
but  now  thought  to  be  the  Kennebec  from  what  is  now 
Popham  Beach  to  Merrymeeting  Bay.  (Maine  His- 
torical Coll.)  "As  we  passed  with  a  gentle  wind  up 
with  our  ship  in  this  river,  any  man  may  conceive 
with  what  admiration  we  all  consented  in  joy.  Many 
of  our  company  who  had  been  travellers  in  sundry 
countries,  and  in  most  famous  rivers,  yet  affirmed 
them  not  comparable  to  this  they  now  beheld.  Some 
that  were  with  Sir  Walter  Raleigh  in  his  voyage  to 
Guiana,  in  the  discovery  of  the  River  Oronoque,  which 
echoed  fame  to  the  world's  ears,  gave  reasons  why  it 
was  not  to  be  compared  to  this,  which  wanteth  the 
dangers  of  many  shoals,  and  broken  ground,  wherewith 
that  was  incumbered.  Others  before  that  notable 
river  in  the  West  Indies,  called  Rio  Grande;  some 
before  the  river  of  Loire,  the  river  Seine  and  of  Bordeaux 
in  France;  which  although  they  be  great  and  goodly 
rivers,  yet  it  is  no  detraction  from  them  to  be  accounted 
inferior  to  this." 

But  it  is  not  the  purpose  of  this  article  to  sing  the 
praises  of  Maine's  natural  beauty.  It  is  our  purpose 
rather  to  call  attention  to  some  points  of  interest  in  the 
early  history  of  Maine,  to  correct  some  false  impressions 
which  have  been  popularly  held  for  many  years,  and  to 
prove  a  theory,  which  will  be  stated  later. 

It  is  unfortunately  true  that  few  even  among 
Maine  people  have  any  clear  idea  of  the  important 
and  interesting  position  which  the  history  of  this  portion 


MAINE'S  POSITION   IN   HISTORY  11 

of  the  country  called  Maine  should  occupy  from  the 
time  of  the  first  explorations  down  to  the  time  of  the  fall 
of  Quebec.  It  is  also  greatly  to  be  deplored  that  the 
history  of  the  doings  of  the  Jesuit  missionaries  and  the 
activities  of  the  French  and  the  Indians  have  been 
consistently  misrepresented  in  most  historical  writings, 
especially  in  popular  and  public  school  histories. 

The  writer  was  lately  making  some  inquiries  as 
to  what  course  of  Maine  history  was  taught  to  the 
children  in  the  public  schools  and  he  was  informed  by 
a  young  lady  connected  with  the  schools  that  the  teach- 
ing of  Maine  history  occupied  a  very  unimportant 
position  because  the  history  of  Maine  was  subordinate 
to  that  of  Massachusetts  "as  Massachusetts  was  settled 
first,  you  know."  Oh,  "Clio,  Muse  of  History,"  turn 
away  your  face  in  shame, — or  rather  hide  your  inex- 
tinguishable laughter  behind  your  lace  handkerchief. 
Can  it  be  that  that  fossilized  falsehood  is  still  stalking 
at  large  through  the  public  schools  of  Maine? 

But  we  can  gather  fresh  faith  and  hope  and  courage 
when  we  reflect  that  more  than  half  of  the  works  which 
masquerade  under  the  name  of  history,  purporting  to 
speak  with  the  voice  of  authority,  pretending  to  teach 
the  inquiring  mind  the  truths  of  the  past,  cannot  right- 
fully be  dignified  even  by  the  title  of  historical  romance. 
For  the  romancer  has  a  literary  license  to  distort  the 
facts  of  history  in  a  reasonable  manner  to  suit  the  needs 
of  his  plot,  but  many  a  writer  of  history  has  distorted 
the  facts  to  suit  the  needs  of  his  argument.  Sometimes 
the  cause  is  to  be  found  in  a  state  of  mind  which  renders 
him  temperamentally  unfitted  to  be  an  historian;  but 
often  the  historian  is  guilty  of  wilful  misstatement 
of  facts. 

Much  of  written  history  is  not  history  at  all.  And 
the  pity  of  it  is  that  school  children  learn  a  great  deal 


12  The  Makers  of  Maine 

of  such  history,  which  it  takes  them  years  to  unlearn 
after  they  have  completed  their  courses  in  the  schools. 
Moreover  it  is  doubtless  true  that  the  greal   majority 
of  t  he  graduates  of  the  American  public  schools  have 
neither   the   time  nor  the  inclination  in  later  years   to 
examine  what  they  have  learned  of  history  and  to  corn  (  i 
the  wrong  ideas  which  they  have  absorbed  from  false 
historians    and     superficially     informed     public    school 
teachers.     That    this    is   a   matter    of    special    concern 
to  the  Catholic  people  of  the  United  States  is  plain 
when  we  consider  that  the  vast  majority  of  the  Catholic 
children  arc  still  being  educated  in  the  public  schools, 
and  probably  must  continue  to  be  for  many  years  to 
come.     Although   the  growth   of   the   Catholic  schools 
in    this   country   has  been   phenomenal,    yet   it   cannot 
keep  pace  with  the  growth  of  the  Catholic    population. 
It  is  a  matter  of  wonder  to  the  student  of  history 
that  the  plain  facts  of  the  early  history  of  Maine  have 
been     ignored     by     responsible     writers.     How     many 
school  children  can  tell  us, — no,  let  us  leave  the  children 
out  of   the  discussion    for   the    moment, — how     many 
public  school  teachers  can  tell  us  that  the  first  incorpo- 
rate! city  in  America  was  the  city  of  Georgiana,  founded 
on   the  site  of  the  present  town  of  York?     Ask  such  a 
finest  ion  to  the  average  teacher,  and  it  is  a  safe   wager 
that  her  thoughts  will  drift  in  the  direction  of  St.  Au- 
gustine, Florida.     Where  will  you  find  it  told  in  public 
school  history  that  Maine  was  once  a  County  Palatine, 
and  is  the  only    portion  of  American  soil  ever  held   by 
a  purely  feudal  tenure? 

"Massachusetts  was  settled  first,"  so  the  writer  was 
told  in  excuse  for  subordinating  Maine  history  to  Mas- 
sachusetts history  in  the  public  schools.  Indeed? 
Then  tell  us  why  it  was  that  the  Pilgrims  in  that  terrible 
winter  when  they  were  in  danger  of  death  bj  starvation 


Maine's  Position  in  history  13 

sent  a  ship  down  to  Maine  to  get  provisions  from  white 
men  who  had  been  living  in  the  neighborhood  of  the 
Kennebec  for  some  years?  Perhaps  it  is  not  of  much 
interest  to  anyone  but  a  lawyer,  but  it  is  an  important 
and  significant  fact  that  in  the  town  of  York  are  pre- 
served the  records  of  a  court  which  sat  there  and  admin- 
istered the  law  under  the  English  common  law  practise 
at  a  time  when  the  Massachusetts  colonists  had  no 
courts,  when  the  legislature  of  the  Massachusetts  colony 
called  then  as  now  the  "General  Court,"  administered 
the  laws  as  well  as  made  them.  You  will  find  it  told 
in  popular  history  that  Samoset  surprised  the  Pilgrims 
with  the  greeting, — "Welcome,  Englishmen,"  but  pop- 
ular history  is  discreetly  silent  about  the  fact  that  Sam- 
oset was  Lord  of  Pemaquid  and  learned  his  English  by 
years  of  friendly  intercourse  with  the  colonists  in  Maine 
long  before  the  Pilgrims  landed  in  Massachusetts  Bay. 

The  labors  of  the  Jesuit  missionaries  in  Maine  for 
the  advancement  of  civilization  have  been  disregarded 
and  denied  by  partisan  historians.  Indeed  they  have 
been  vilified  and  slandered.  The  injustice  of  American 
historians  towards  the  Catholic  church  and  its  labors 
in  Maine  is  notorious  and  a  crying  shame.  Few  histo- 
rians have  ever  given  any  credit  whatever  to  those 
brave  and  devoted  men;  except  that  they  cheerfully 
give  them  the  false  credit  of  being  the  incitors  of  the 
Indians  to  bloody  attacks  upon  the  English.  There 
are  few  of  the  present  generation  of  men  and  women 
who  received  their  education  in  the  public  schools  who  do 
not  hold  it  an  article  of  faith,  as  sanctified  as  the  truths 
of  scripture,  that  the  French  priests,  crafty,  calculating 
Jesuits,  systematically  incited  the  Indians  to  murder 
the  English  settlers  in  Maine  and  to  burn  their  dwellings. 
Yet  nothing  is  farther  from  the  truth. 

That  the  French  settlers  and  their  priests  had  an 


14  The  Makers  of  Maine 

influence    upon    the    Indians,    which    the    English    had 
not  and   could   not  acquire,   is  beyond   dispute.     Nor 
is  it  to  be  wondered  at  when  we  consider  the  difference 
in  the  conduct  of  the  English  and  of   the  French  toward 
the     natives.     The     accounts    of     Indian     barbarities, 
of  murders  and  burnings,  narrated  by  the  English  are 
irreconcilable  with  the  narratives  of  the  Jesuit  mission- 
aries.    But  the  discrepancies  are  easily  accounted  for 
when    the   attitude   of    the    two   nations  is   compared. 
The    policy    of    the    French    priests    was    conciliatory. 
The  English   acted   upon  the  maxim  that  it  was    no 
sin  to  cheat  an  Indian.     The  French  missionary  treated 
the  Indian  as  a  human  being  with  a  soul  to  save.     The 
first  Englishman  to  discover  the  Kennebec  A.  D.  1602, 
(not  the  first  white  man),  one  Captain  Harlow,  captured 
two  Indians  and  took  them  to  England  as  a  wild  beast 
show.     The    French,    on    the    other    hand,    fraternized 
with    the    Indians,    adopted    their    customs,    joined    in 
their  hunting  and  fishing  expeditions,  and  treated  them 
as  equals  to  be  respected.   The  French  priests  approached 
them  as  missionaries  with   that  never  failing     insight 
which  has  characterized    the    Jesuit    Order    in   all    its 
missionary   undertakings.     The   Indians   embraced   the 
Catholic   faith,    not  so  much   because    the  ceremonies 
of  the  church  had  charms  for  the  simple  minded  children 
of  the  forest,  as  prejudiced  writers  would  have  us  believe, 
but  because  the  Jesuit  priests  were  possessed  of  the 
true    missionary    zeal    and    instinct,    and    in    addition 
exhibited  broad  minded  common  sense  in  approaching 
the  Indians  with  the  truths  of  Christianity. 

The  foregoing  statements  are  an  outline  which 
it  is  the  intention  of  the  writer  to  develop  in  detail 
and  by  logical  steps  later  on.  History  is  not  a  collec- 
tion, a  compendium  of  isolated  facts,  a  chronology 
of  wars,  of  lives  and  deaths  of  great  men,  of  the  rise  and 


Maine's  Position  in  History  15 

fall  of  peoples.  It  is  something  more,  it  is  philosophy. 
As  children,  with  undeveloped  intelligence,  with  minds 
like  a  fresh  blotter  pad  waiting  to  absorb  material, 
we  must  learn  history  as  a  sequence  of  facts  and  a 
list  of  dates;  but  as  we  advance  in  intelligence  and  in- 
crease in  reasoning  power,  it  is  our  duty  to  look  beneath 
the  surface,  to  search  for  the  reasons  for  things,  to  learn 
the  philosophy  of  history. 

It  would  be  natural  to  expect  that  the  coast  of  Maine 
which  first  attracted  so  many  adventurous  Englishmen 
should  have  been  the  cradle  of  our  Northern  civilization. 
Here  we  should  have  looked  for  the  seat  of  empire  in 
the  North.  Here,  and  not  upon  the  sterile  soil  of 
Massachusetts  Bay  should  have  been  built  the  ports 
of  commerce  and  industry.     But  such  are  not  the  facts. 

It  is  the  writer's  purpose  to  endeavor  to  prove  that 
the  punishing  hand  of  God  isto  be  traced,  vaguely,  darkly, 
but  certainly,  in  the  history  of  Maine;  that  Maine 
did  not  fulfil  her  early  promise  of  greatness  in  history 
for  plain  and  sufficient  reasons,  patent  to  him  who 
will  search  and  meditate,  to  be  found  in  the  doings 
of  the  English  settlers;  that  the  opportunity  was  offered 
here  to  the  white  man  to  give  to  the  world  an  example 
of  Christian  charity  and  liberality,  and  it  was  rejected 
with  selfishness  and  scorn. 


CHAPTER  II 
THE  SONS  OF  ERIC 

Not  to  Christopher  Columbus,  the  great  Genoese 
navigator,  but  to  Leif  Ericson,  son  of  Eric  the  Red, 
belongs  the  credit  and  the  glory  of  the  discovery  of 
America.  This  is  not  the  statement  of  a  myth,  of  a 
legend,  but  of  an  historical  fact,  too  well  proven  to  be 
even  so  much  as  disputed  by  students  of  history  to-day. 
Nor  is  it  in  any  way  detracting  from  the  memory  of 
Columbus  one  whit  of  all  the  credit  that  is  his  due. 
A  great  society  of  American  Catholics  honors  the  memory 
of  the  Christian  navigator,  keeps  fresh  and  green  in 
the  minds  and  hearts  of  its  members  the  honor,  the  glory 
that  Columbus  won.  It  is  proud  of  its  title, — the 
"Knights  of  Columbus."  But  there  is  plenty  of  room 
for  another  society  of  Christian  American  gentlemen, 
named,  let  us  say,  the  "Sons  of  Eric,"  to  pay  some 
belated  credit  and  honor  where  credit  and  honor  is  sadly 
due.  Nor  would  it  be  at  all  amiss  from  a  Christian 
or  Catholic  viewpoint  for  such  a  society  to  be  organized. 
No  one  can  dispute  that  Leif  Ericson  and  his  followers 
were  fully  as  Christian  and  Catholic  as  Columbus  and 
his  companions,  though  the  gentle  spirit  of  the  knightly 
and  courtly  Genoese  would  hardly  be  looked  for  in  the 
stern  and  warlike  Vikings  of  the  North.  Their's  was 
a  different  character.  Born,  living  and  dying  on  a 
cold  and  rockbound  land,  navigating  a  stormy,  tem- 
pestuous ocean,  carrying  their  lives  in  their  hands 
from  day  to  day,   their  character  and  disposition  not 


The  Sons  of  Eric  17 

unnaturally  reflected  the  conditions  and  the  environment 
in  which  they  passed  their  lives.  Wild  pagans  at  first, 
they  embraced  Christianity  with  a  readiness  almost 
remarkable,  and  once  Christianized,  they  never  became 
apostate,  but  clung  to  their  faith, — a  faith  of  militant 
Chiistianity. 

To  my  mind,  far  from  discrediting  Columbus, 
it  makes  him  a  greater  man,  to  say  that  America  was 
discovered  and  settled  by  white  men,  European  Chris- 
tians, long  before  his  time.  It  is  not  to  his  credit  to 
assume  that  he  stumbled  upon  an  opinion  that  there 
was  land  to  the  west  of  the  ocean,  and  then  stumbled 
upon  the  land.  It  is  more  creditable  to  the  memory 
of  one  who  was  a  learned  man  even  for  those  days  of 
scholarship  that  he  formed  his  opinion  in  regard  to  land 
to  the  west  by  a  chain  of  logical  deductions  based  upon 
study  and  research.  He  always  spoke  of  his  conviction 
of  the  land  to  the  west  with  as  much  certainty  as  if 
his  very  eyes  had  looked  upon  it.  At  the  Rabida 
convent  he  gave  the  following  reasons  for  his  certainity, — 
first  the  nature  of  things,  meaning  of  course  the  fact 
that  the  earth  was  round;  second,  the  reports  of  nav- 
igators, and  third  the  authority  of  learned  writers. 
By  the  reports  of  navigators  he  could  have  meant 
nothing  else  than  the  facts  which  he  learnt  while  on  his 
journey  through  the  northern  countries  where  he  was 
well  received.  We  have  it  on  the  authority  of  his  son, 
Ferdinand,  that  he  visited  Iceland;  and  he  was  in 
Iceland  within  130  years  from  the  time  of  the  last 
Norse  visit  to  America.  He  must  have  talked  with 
many  whose  grandfathers  knew  personally  of  the  land 
in  the  west.  By  the  authority  of  learned  men,  he 
doubtless  referred  to  the  book  written  by  Adam  of 
Bremen  in  the  year  1072.  In  this  book  much  was 
written  about  the  land  to  the  west,  called  by  the  Norse- 


is  The  Makers  of  Maine 

men,  Vinland,  the  very  name  itself  being  used  by  Adam  of 
Bremen  in  his  book. 

This  argument  would  be  of  little  moment  to  us 
who  are  interested  in  the  early  history  of  Maine,  were 
it  not  for  the  fact  that  the  voyages  of  the  Norsemen 
to  America,  almost  wholly,  and  the  settlements  of  the 
Norsemen  in  America,  quite  entirely,  were  confined 
to  the  territory  now  known  as  New  England;  and 
although  we  do  not  find  as  clear  evidence  of  the  footsteps 
of  the  Norsemen  in  Maine  as  have  been  found  in  the 
more  southern  New  England  States,  yet  it  is  incon- 
ceivable that  navigators  who  skirted  the  shores  of 
Labrador,  New  Foundland,  and  Nova  Scotia,  and 
who  are  positively  known  to  have  landed  on  the  coast 
of  Massachusetts  Bay,  it  is  inconceivable,  that  they 
sailed  by  the  beautiful  shores  of  Maine  with  averted 
eyes,  that  they  avoided  the  fine  harbors  and  landlocked 
anchorages  of  the  coast  of  Maine.  That  we  do  not 
find  the  vestiges  of  their  presence  here  is  but  negative 
evidence,  and  of  no  force  whatever  when  we  consider 
that  they  did  not  build  substantial  houses,  but  from  the 
evidence  of  their  own  Sagas,  temporary  structures, 
hastily  and  carelessly  constructed. 

Now,  in  order  that  we  may  have  a  clear  idea  of 
how  it  came  about  that  the  Norsemen  discovered  New 
England,  let  us  take  a  view  of  the  history  of  the  northern 
countries  in  the  ninth  century.  In  that  century  Norway 
was  divided  into  thirty  or  so  districts  called  "fylkes," 
governed  by  jarls,  from  whom  we  derive  our  modern 
name  of  "earl."  These  rulers  were  in  a  manner  elected 
by  the  people.  In  the  middle  of  the  ninth  century, 
a  jarl  by  the  name  of  Harald  Fairhair  subjugated  all 
the  other  jarls  and  united  Norway.  His  usurpation 
was  not  popular,  the  northern  races  have  never  submitted 
tamely   to  one   man   power.     The  result  was  a  large 


The  Sons  of  Eric  19 

emigration  to  the  British  Isles,  the  Herbrides,  the 
Orkneys,  the  Shetland  Isles,  the  Faroes,  and  to  Iceland. 
The  more  adventurous  spirits  went  to  Iceland  and  by 
the  beginning  of  the  next  century  Iceland  had  nearly 
100,000  population.  Here  the  self-governing  aspira- 
tions of  the  northern  people  found  their  fullest  and 
freest  development,  and  for  four  hundred  years  a  re- 
public flourished,  brave  men  were  born  and  lived,  and 
poets  sang  their  deeds.  This  was  the  period  of  the  pro- 
duction of  the  great  Sagas,  the  hero  worshiping  poetry 
of  the  Norse  Vikings.  The  Norsemen  were  great  sailors. 
They  loved  the  sea  and  no  ocean  was  too  stormy  nor  too 
dangerous  for  these  Vikings  to  navigate.  It  was  not 
long  before  they  were  sailing  to  Greenland.  And  let 
us  remember  that  Greenland  is  admittedly  within  the 
western  hemisphere. 

Now  we  must  make  the  acquaintance  of  a  hero  of 
the  Sagas,  of  undisputed  bravery  but  of  questionable 
morality.  His  name  was  Eric  the  Red.  In  the  middle 
of  the  tenth  century  he  was  living  in  Norway.  He  well 
deserved  his  name  of  "the  Red,"  for  besides  his  red  hair 
and  beard,  he  was  the  proud  owner  of  the  reddest  dis- 
position of  all  the  fire-eaters  who  ever  sailed  the  northern 
seas.  He  lived  in  a  perpetual  quarrel  with  his  neighbors 
and  finally,  having  committed  the  crime  of  murder,  he 
was  forced  to  flee  for  his  life.  With  his  family  he  emi- 
grated to  Iceland.  Little  time  passed  before  he  was 
again  in  trouble.  Again  he  moved  westward,  and  this 
time  to  the  western  world.  To  Greenland  he  went 
with  his  household.  This  year  is  an  important  date, 
the  year  982,  for  it  marks  the  first  permanent  settlement 
of  the  New  World.  In  the  year  982,  therefore,  Green- 
land was  inhabited  by  a  family  of  white  men,  whose 
head  and  chief  was  the  progenitor  of  a  noble  race  of 
adventurous  spirits,  who  have  left  the  prints  of  their 


20  The  Makers  of  Maine 

their  footsteps  on  the  shores  of  New  England.  Eric 
the  Red  succeeded  in  founding  a  colony  in  Greenland 
which  flourished  for  several  hundred  years,  in  fact, 
down  to  the  time  of  the  great  "Black  Plague,"  which 
swept  Europe.  The  Icelandic  Sagas  have  preserved 
for  us  many  interesting  accounts  of  the  colony. 
We  know  even  the  number  of  the  Bishops 
who  resided  in  Greenland.  Eric  the  Red  had  three 
sons,  their  names  are  worth  remembering, — they  were 
Leif  Ericson,  Thorvald,  and  Thorstein.  In  the  year 
1000  Christianity  had  been  adopted  as  the  religion  of 
of  Norway.  King  Olaf  Trygvason,  one  of  the  greatest 
of  kings,  was  on  the  throne.  In  this  year  Leif  Ericson 
had  journeyed  to  Norway,  had  met  King  Olaf  and  had 
made  a  favorable  impression  on  the  great  king.  The 
king  asked  Leif  to  accept  Christianity,  which  he  did, 
and  at  the  further  persuasion  of  the  king,  he  promised 
to  carry  the  religion  to  his  family  and  friends  in  Green- 
land. The  king  also  commissioned  him  to  head  an  ex- 
pedition to  the  lands  in  the  far  west,  rumors  of  which 
had  reached  Norway,  and  Leif  agreed  to  make  a  voyage 
of  exploration  and  discovery  to  the  west  of  Greenland. 
In  the  summer  of  the  year  1000,  a  notable  date  in  history 
surely  as  important  as  the  year  1492,  Leif  Ericson  landed 
on  the  wild  shores  of  New  Foundland.  He  explored 
the  country  and  finding  it  hilly  and  covered  with  flat 
stones,  he  called  the  land  Helluland,  "of  the  flat  stones." 
Sailing  south  he  came  to  Nova  Scotia,  which  he  found  to 
be  heavily  wooded.  Therefore  he  called  it  Markland, 
"of  the  woods."  Again  going  south,  skirting  the  shores 
of  the  Gulf  of  Maine,  he  finally  landed  on  the  shore  of  a 
bay  into  which  emptied  a  river.  He  sailed  up  the  river 
crossing  a  lake  and  entering  another  river  which  he  as- 
cended as  far  as  his  ships  had  sufficient  depth  of  water. 
This  land  he  called  Vinland,  from  the  presence  of  grapes 


The  Sons  Eric  21 

found  in  abundance  there.  These  names  given  to 
New  Foundland,  Nova  Scotia,  and  New  England  are 
important,  for  they  remained  the  accepted  names  of 
the  respective  countries  for  400  years,  and  frequently 
appear  in  the  Sagas. 

Where  is  the  particular  spot  at  which  Leif  Ericson 
landed  and  with  his  company  spent  the  winter  of  1000- 
1001?  If  we  knew  positively  we  would  have  solved  a 
problem  which  has  worried  many  an  historian  and 
antiquarian.  Probably  the  answer  to  that  question 
would  also  clear  up  the  mystery  of  the  ancient  city  of 
Norumbega.  Prof.  E.  N.  Horsford,  late  of  Harvard, 
claimed  to  have  definitely  located  the  settlement  of 
Leif,  and  his  successors,  Thorvald,  Thorfin  and  Gudrid, 
his  wife,  and  to  have  unravelled  the  mystery  of  Nor- 
umbega, which  he  dismissed  with  the  simple  explana- 
tion that  it  was  an  Indian  corruption  of  the  word, — 
"Norvega,"  applied  to  this  country  by  the  Norsemen 
who  claimed  it  as  a  part  of  their  native  country  by  right 
of  discovery.  Prof.  Horsford  was  confident  that  he 
had  located  the  Vinland  settlement  of  the  Norsemen  on 
the  banks  of  the  Charles  River  in  Massachusetts,  near 
Cambridge,  Cambridgeport,  and  Watertown.  He  be- 
lieved that  he  had  everything  definitely  settled.  But 
his  explanation  proves  too  much.  In  one  point  alone 
it  seems  to  me  that  he  gives  scant  credit  to  the  foresight 
and  experience  of  the  Norsemen.  The  strongest  part 
of  his  argument  rests  upon  certain  remains  of  ditches 
which  he  found,  which,  he  declares,  were  canals  dug  by 
the  Norsemen  for  the  purpose  of  floating  logs  and  timber 
into  the  Charles  River  and  from  there  to  be  shipped 
home  to  Greenland.  It  is  quite  probable  that  the 
Norsemen  shipped  timber  from  the  heavily  wooded 
New  England  to  the  wood  scarce  Greenland,  but  it  is 
far  from  probable,  that  men  who  knew  how  to  cut  tim- 


22  The  Makers  of  Maine 

ber  in  the  north  countries  in  the  winter  season  and  haul 
it  on  the  snow  and  ice,  and  pile  it  up  for  the  spring 
freshets  to  float  down  the  streams  to  the  river  and  the 
harbor,  would  ever  undertake  the  unnecessary  labor 
of  digging  artificial  canals  to  float  the  timber.  The 
description  of  the  river  and  harbor  in  Vinland  contained 
in  the  Sagas  applies  to  several  places  along  the  New 
England  coast;  but  to  none  better  than  to  the 
Kennebec  River.  And  it  would  be  strange  that  this 
beautiful  and  romantic  river,  which  appealed  so  strongly 
to  the  Frenchmen  and  the  Englishmen,  who  came  along 
five  and  six  hundred  years  later,  should  not  appeal 
equally  to  the  adventurous  Norsemen. 

But  speculation  is  vain  and  idle.  Suffice  it  to  say, 
that  it  is  hardly  conceivable  that  the  Norsemen  who 
spent  so  many  years  in  Vinland  should  not  have  been 
as  familiar  with  the  Coast  of  Maine  as  they  were  with 
the  Coast  of  Massachusetts. 

In  the  spring  of  the  year  1001  Leif  Ericson  re- 
turned to  Greenland.  True  to  his  promise  to  King  Olaf 
he  preached  the  doctrine  of  the  "White  Christ"  to  the 
Greenland  colony,  and  with  so  much  success  that  he 
converted  the  whole  colony,  save  only  his  own  father. 
That  fiery  old  Viking,  well  named  Eric  the  Red,  refused 
to  accept  the  gospel  of  love,  and  declared  that  he  would 
die  as  he  lived  with  his  faith  in  Odin  and  Thor,  and  his 
own  good  right  arm,  unshaken. 


CHAPTER   III 
The  Viking  and  the  Catholic  Church 

The  next  voyage  to  New  England,  the  Norsemen's 
"Vinland,"  according  to  the  Sagas,  occurred  in  the  year 
1002.  This  expedition  was  headed  by  Thorvald,  broth- 
er of  Leif  Ericson,  Thorvald  landed  at  the  camp  of  Leif, 
but  his  stay  was  of  short  duration,  for  unfortunately  he 
was  killed  in  battle  with  the  Indians,  whom  the 
Norsemen  called, — "Skrellings."  This  is  the  way  the 
Saga  tells  the  story  of  the  brave  and  Christian  death  of 
Thorvald,  the  first  Viking  and  the  first  European  Christ- 
ian to  be  buried  in  the  soil  of  the  New  World.  "So 
great  a  drowsiness  came  over  them  that  they  fell  asleep. 
Then  came  a  shout  over  them  so  that  they  all  awoke. 
Thus  said  the  shout:  Wake  thou,  Thorvald,  and  all 
thy  companions,  if  thou  wilt  preserve  life,  and  return 
thou  to  thy  ship  with  all  thy  men  and  leave  the  land 
without  delay.  They  rushed  out  from  the  interior  of 
the  frith  an  innumerable  crowd  of  skin  boats  and  made 
towards  them.  Thorvald  said  then:  'We  will  put  out 
the  battle  skreen,  and  defend  ourselves  as  well  as  we 
can,  but  fight  little  against  them.'  So  they  did,  and 
the  skrellings  shot  at  them  for  the  time  but  afterwards 
ran  away  each  as  fast  as  they  could.  Then  asked  Thor- 
vald his  men  if  they  had  gotten  any  wounds,  they  an- 
swered that  no  one  was  wounded.  'I  have  got  a  wound 
under  my  arm,'  said  he,  'for  an  arrow  fled  between 
the  edge  of  the  ship  and  the  shield  in  under  my  arm, 
and  here  is  the  arrow  and  it  will  prove  a  mortal  wound 


24  The  Makers  of  Maine 

to  me.  Now  I'  advise  you  that  you  get  ready  instantly 
to  depart  bul  you  shall  first  hear  me  to  that  cape  where 
I  thought  it  best  that  we  would  live, — it  was  a  true  word 
that  fell  from  my  lips  when  I  said  that  I  would  dwell 
there  and  not  depart;  there  you  shall  bury  me,  and 
there  you  shall  set  up  two  crosses,  one  at  my  head  and 
one  at  my  feet,  and  you  shall  call  the  place  Krossaness." 
And  so  the  spot  was  called,  "Krossaness,"  Mount  or 
headland  of  the  Crosses  by  the  Norsemen  for  ever  more. 
So  died  a  brave  and  Christian  gentleman,  his  bones  have 
mingled  with  the  soil  of  this  New  England.  No  man 
to-day  knows  where  that  Krossaness,  the  Cape  of  the 
Crosses  is;  but  for  all  we  know,  it  may  be  Cape  Eliza- 
beth at  the  entrance  of  Casco  Bay,  or  it  may  be  any 
one  of  the  many  beautiful  promontories  which 
extend  out  into  the  Atlantic  from  the  bold  and  rocky 
shores  of  Maine,  which  must  have  reminded  the  Norse- 
men so  much  of  their  Fatherland,  Norway,  with  its 
many  friths.  Indeed,  the  very  use  itself  of  the  word 
"frith"  in  the  Saga,  to  my  mind  disposes  of  all  argu- 
ments in  favor  of  the  southern  shores  along  Massachu- 
setts Bay,  for  where  else  but  on  the  coast  of  Maine  will 
you  find  anything  approaching  the  scenery  of  the 
Scandinavian.  Peninsular? 

The  next  notable  event  in  the  settlement  of  our 
New  England  by  the  Norsemen  is  the  visit  of  the  first 
white  woman,  and  the  birth  of  the  first  white  and 
Christian  child.  There  was  living  at  that  time  in  Green- 
land a  noble  woman  by  the  name  of  Gudrid.  She  was 
of  an  adventurous  character,  in  her  veins  flowed  the 
blood  of  the  progenitors, — or  progenetrix,  of  nature's 
chosen  children,  the  unborn  race  of  conquerors  and  em- 
pire builders.  She  married  Thorfin  Karlsefni.  She 
persuaded  him  to  emigrate  to  Vinland.  They  went 
accompanied  by  a  large  following.     In  the  summer  of 


4 

•ft* 


The  Viking  and  the  Catholic  Church       25 

the  year  1008  a  son  was  born  to  them.  They  named 
him  Snorce.  This  was  the  first  child  baptized  in  the 
Christian  faith  in  New  England,  and  indeed,  in  all  the 
New  World.  After  the  death  of  her  husband,  Gudrid, 
following  a  custom  of  the  nobility  of  the  north  in  rela- 
tion to  widows,  made  a  pilgrimage  to  Rome.  History 
relates  that  she  attracted  much  attention  in  Rome,  as 
well  she  might,  and  that  she  was  well  received. 

We  know  that  the  Holy,  Roman  Catholic  Church 
from  the  very  first  ages  of  Christianity  has  kept  in  close 
touch  with  its  children  and  its  priests  throughout  the 
world.  We  know  further  that  the  manuscript  records 
preserved  in  the  Vatican  prove  beyond  peradventure 
that  the  Roman  Catholic  see  of  Greenland  included  all 
the  Norse  settlements  in  the  New  World, — Helluland, 
Markland  and  Vinland.  The  records  are  preserved 
which  show  that  at  least  one  Catholic  Bishop  of  Green- 
land, namely,  Bishop  Eric  Upse,  visited  Vinland.  No 
one  who  knows  anything  of  the  history  of  the  Catholic 
Church  will  have  the  slightest  doubt,  from  the  fact 
of  the  visit  of  this  bishop,  that  Catholic  priests  accom- 
panied the  Norse  voyagers  and  lived  with  them  in  Vin- 
land. The  Church  never  left  her  children  to  shift  for 
themselves  without  the  consolation  of  ordained  priests 
to  administer  the  sacraments,  especially  the  sacraments 
for  the  dying.  It  is  unanswerable  that  a  bishop  would 
not  make  this  journey  unless  there  were  priests  there 
ahead  of  him  to  bla/e  the  path,  to  do  the  preliminary 
work.  Indeed,  the  fact  of  his  visit  is  strong  presump- 
tive evidence  that  there  were  numbers  of  priests  in  resi- 
dence there.  The  Sagas  tell  us  that  many  voyages 
were  made  down  to  the  year  1347,  the  date  of  the  last 
voyage,  and  only  145  years  before  the  rediscovery  by 
Columbus.  They  tell  us  of  the  daily  lives  of  the  colon- 
ists and  contain  full  descriptions  of  the  country. 


26  The  Makers  of  Maine 

If  I  were  to  quote  much  from  the  Sagas  to  prove 
that  the  voyages  to  Vinland  were  numerous  and  that 
settlements  were  maintained  there  continuously  for 
more  than  three  hundred  years,  it  would  extend  this 
narrative  to  too  great  extent,  and  I  would  be  obliged 
to  sacrifice  other  later  and  interesting  events.  But 
I  shall  quote  the  following  part  of  the  Saga  of  Eric  the 
Red  relating  to  the  voyage  of  Frydis,  Helgi  and  Finn- 
bogi,  A.  D.  1011.  "Now  people  began  again  to  talk 
about  voyages  to  Vinland,  the  Good,  for  voyages  there 
to  appeared  both  profitable  and  of  honor.  The  same 
summer  that  Karlsefni  went  from  Vinland,  there  came 
a  ship  from  Norway  to  Greenland;  this  ship  carried 
two  brothers,  Helgi  and  Finnbogi.  They  stayed  for 
the  winter  in  Greenland.  These  brothers  were  Ice- 
landers. It  is  now  to  be  told  that  Freydis,  the  daughter 
of  Eric,  went  from  her  home  in  Garde  to  the  brothers, 
Helgi  and  Finnbogi,  and  asked  them  to  sail  to  Vinland 
with  their  ships,  and  to  go  halves  with  her  in  all  the 
profits  that  might  be  made  there.  To  this  they  agreed. 
Then  she  went  to  Leif,  her  brother,  and  begged  him  to 
give  her  the  houses  which  he  had  built  in  Vinland;  but 
he  answered  that  he  would  lend  her  the  houses  but 
would  not  give  them.  So  it  was  settled  between  the 
brothers  and  Freydis,  that  each  should  have  thirty 
fighting  men  in  the  ship  besides  the  women.  But 
Freydis  broke  this  agreement  and  hid  five  men  more, 
which  the  brothers  knew  not  of  till  they  came  to  Vinland. 
Now  they  sailed  out  into  the  sea,  and  the  brothers 
came  there  a  little  ahead  and  took  up  their  abode  in 
Leif's  houses.  But  when  Freydis  came  to  the  land,  they 
cleared  out  their  ships  and  took  their  goods  to  the  house. 
Then  said  Freydis:  "Why  bring  your  things  here?" 
They  replied,  "Because  we  believed  that  the  whole 
agreement  should  stand  good  between  us."     Then  said 


The  Viking  and  the  Catholic  Church    27 

she, — "Leif  lent  the  houses  to  me  and  not  to  you." 
Then  said  Helgi, — "We  brothers  are  easily  excelled  in 
evil-doing  by  thee."  Then  they  took  out  their  goods 
and  made  a  separate  dwelling,  and  set  it  further  from 
the  shore,  on  the  edge  of  a  lake.  Now  winter  began 
and  the  brothers  proposed  to  have  sports  and  amuse- 
ments. So  it  was  done  for  a  time,  but  evil  reports 
and  discords  sprang  up  among  them,  and  there  was 
an  end  to  the  sports  and  nobody  came  from  one  house 
to  the  other,  and  so  it  went  on  for  a  long  time  during 
the  winter." 

The  Saga  goes  on  to  tell  how  the  expedition  came 
to  a  violent  and  bloody  end  through  the  evil  temper 
and  avaricous  disposition  of  Freydis,  who  persuaded 
her  husband  to  fall  upon  the  brothers  and  their  men 
in  their  sleep  and  kill  them.  Freydis  herself  killed 
the  women  of  the  Helgi, — Finn  bogi  party.  Many 
such  quarrels  and  killings  are  related  in  the  Sagas; 
and  it  was  on  account  of  such  occurrences,  arising  as 
they  no  doubt  did  from  the  unbearable  tempers  and 
fighting  dispositions  of  the  Norsemen,  together  with 
the  perpetual  warfare  with  the  native  Indians,  that 
the  Vinland  settlements  were  never  happy  and  pros- 
perous colonies.  It  is  doubtless  true  that  the  Indians 
would  have  treated  the  new  comers  in  as  friendly 
a  manner  as  they  afterwards  treated  the  French,  and 
would  have  lived  in  peace  with  them  as  they  did  with 
their  French  brothers  and  allies  centuries  afterwards. 
But  it  requires  little  reading  of  the  Icelandic  Sagas  to 
be  persuaded  that  no  race  on  the  face  of  the  earth 
could  live  in  peace  with  those  fierce  warriors.  They 
went  looking  for  trouble  and  when  they  could  not  find 
a  common  enemy  to  fight,  they  kept  in  fighting  practice 
by  murdering  each  other. 

One  other  Saga  I  desire  to  quote  before   leaving 


28  The  Makers  of  Maine 

this  subject.  It  is  a  fragment  of  the  "Vellum  Codex," 
supposed  to  have  been  written  about  the  end  of  the 
14th  century.  It  is  interesting  as  showing  the 
Geography  of  the  time. 

"Next  to  Denmark  is  the  lesser  Sweden,  then  is 
Oeland,  then  Gottland,  then  Helsingeland,  then  Verme- 
land,  and  the  two  Kvendlands,  which  lie  to  the  north 
of  Bjarmeland.  From  Bjarmeland  stretches  unin- 
habited land  towards  the  north,  until  Greenland  begins 
South  of  Greenland  lies  Helluland,  next  lies  Markland 
thence  it  is  not  far  to  Vinland  the  Good,  which  some 
think  goes  out  from  Africa.  It  is  related  that  Thorfin 
Karlsefni  cut  wood  here  to  ornament  his  house,  and 
went  afterwards  to  seek  out  Vinland  the  Good,  and 
came  there  where  they  thought  the  land  was  but  did 
not  effect  the  knowledge  of  it  and  gained  none  of  the 
riches  of  the  land.  Leif  the  Lucky  first  discovered 
Vinland,  and  then  he  met  some  merchants  in  distress 
at  sea  and  by  God's  mercy  saved  their  lives;  and  he 
introduced  Christianity  into  Greenland  and  it  spread 
itself  there  so  that  a  Bishop's  seat  was  established  in 
the  place  called  Gardar.  England  and  Scotland  are  an 
island  and  yet  each  is  a  kingdom  itself.  Ireland  is  a 
great  island.  Iceland  is  also  a  great  island  north  of 
Ireland.  These  countries  are  all  in  that  part  of  the 
world  called  Europe." 

It  would  be  interesting  now  to  go  back  of  the  time 
of  the  Norse  discoveries  of  America,  and  speak  of  the 
traditions  of  the  Irish  visits  before  the  time  of  the 
Norsemen.  But,  although  I  do  not  pretend  to  be 
writing  a  history,  yet  I  claim  for  all  that  I  write  the 
basis  of  historical  fact.  So  much  of  what  has  come 
down  to  us  relative  to  the  voyages  of  the  Irish  to  these 
shores  before  the  Norsemen  is  admittedly  legend  and 
not  history,    that    I  hesitate  to   even   mention   it.     It 


The  Viking  and  the  catholic  Church     29 

is  undoubtedly  true  that  the  Irish  visited  Iceland  be- 
fore the  Scandinavians  came  there,  and  it  is  quite 
probable  that  the  bold,  adventurous  Irish  sailors  were 
often  driven  out  of  their  course  in  those  stormy  seas, 
just  as  the  Norsemen  afterwards  were,  and  very  likely 
saw  the  shores  of  the  western  continent,  perhaps  landed 
there.  But  the  tradition  of  a  Great  Ireland  somewhere 
to  the  south  of  Vinland,  inhabited  by  white  men  speaking 
the  Irish  language,  the  tradition  of  Bjorn  Asbrandson 
who  was  driven  out  of  Iceland  for  his  sins  and  was 
discovered  thirty  years  afterwards  living  in  that  land 
to  the  south  of  Vinland,  called  Great  Ireland,  among 
Irish  speaking  white  men,  as  well  as  among  the  natives, 
the  traditions  of  the  Indian  tribes  that  white  men 
once  lived  in  Florida,  and  used  iron  instruments,  all 
these  are  traditions  and  not  history.  Romances  might 
be  built  upon  them,  but  however  interesting  it  is,  the 
tradition  of  the  Irish  speaking  white  men  of  ''Ireland 
ed  Mikla,"  Ireland  the  Greater,  is  as  much  a  tradition 
as  the  voyage  of  St.  Brendan  from  Ireland  to  the  fortu- 
nate Isles  in  the  sixth  century. 

There  is  so  much  evidence  of  the  spread  of  Chris- 
ianity  and  the  authority  of  the  Catholic  Church  over 
Ireland,  Greenland  and  the  lands  to  the  west,  that  it 
is  unnecessary  to  quote  at  any  length  the  numerous 
documents  preserved  by  the  Vatican  and  made  public 
to  the  world  within  the  last  few  years.  But  for  the 
purpose  of  our  view  of  the  state  of  conditions  in  these 
western  lands  at  the  period  of  the  Norse  settlements 
in  New  England,  it  may  be  interesting  to  our  readers 
to  quote  the  following  letter  written  by  Pope  Alexan- 
der VI.  It  was  written  during  the  period  of  the  settle- 
ment of  this  country.  The  exact  date  of  the  letter  of  Pope 
Alexander  VI  is  uncertain,  except  that  it  was  certainly 
written  during  the  early  years  of  his  pontificate.     This 


30  The  Makers  of  maine 

letter  shows  clearly  that,  in  silver  and  gold,  the 
Norsmen  were  very  poor;  but  considering  what  they 
had  to  contend  against  in  all  the  centuries  after  they 
were  Christianized,  and  considering  the  great  distance 
of  their  country  from  Rome,  the  center  of  Christianity 
and  the  heart  of  civilization,  they  were  a  great  race  and 
a  wonderful  people.  The  letter  is  to  me  most 
interesting.  Allowing  for  the  natural  weakness  of  those 
Norsemen  who  fell  away  from  the  faith,  in  the  words 
of  the  venerable  Pontiff,  not  having  had  the  minis- 
tration of  priest  or  bishop  for  eighty  years, — figure  to 
yourself  the  great  faith  of  the  majority  of  those  warlike 
adventurers  who  once  each  year  gathered  together  to 
venerate  a  "certain  Corporale", — a  mere  piece  of  cloth, 
blessed,  upon  which,  one  hundred  years  before,  something 
that  no  living  man  of  them  could  have  seen  with  his 
own  eyes,  the  consecrated  Body  of  Christ  had  rested 
for  a  few  minutes  during  the  celebration  of  the  Holy 
Sacrifice  of  the  Mass  by  the  last  priest  who  had  lived 
there. 

There  was  a  faith  and  devotion  equal  to  any  that 
inspired  the  noblest  and  bravest  of  Jesuits  who  followed 
the  Norsemen  in  New  England  five  and  six  centuries 
afterwards.  There  seems  something  fitting  in  the  fact 
that  the  Bishop-elect,  Matthias,  who  was  intending 
to  go  to  Greenland  to  take  charge  of  the  See  of  Garda, 
should  be  as  poor  as  the  Norsemen  to  whom  he  was 
going, — so  poor  that  Pope  Alexander  ordered  that  all 
Apostolic  Letters  be  forwarded  to  him  without  charge 
or  expense.  The  closing  words  of  the  letter  in  their 
simplicity  speak  volumes: — "Let  it  be  done  everywhere 
gratis  because  he  is  extremely  poor." 

The  letter  above  mentioned  follow: 

English  translation  of  Letter  of  Pope  Alexander  VI. 


The  Viking  and  the  Catholic  Church     31 

(Alexander  VI.)  {In  the  early  years  of  his  Pontificate.) 
10.  Since,  as  we  have  heard  the  Church  of  Garda 
is  situated  at  the  extremity  of  the  earth  in  the  country 
of  Greenland,  whose  inhabitants  are  accustomed  to  use 
dried  fish  and  milk  because  of  the  want  of  bread,  wine 
and  oil,  wherefore  and  also  on  account  of  the  rare 
shipping  to  said  country  due  to  the  intense  freezing  of 
the  sea  no  vessel  is  believed  to  have  put  to  land  there 
for  eighty  years  back,  or  if  it  happened  that  such  voyages 
were  made,  surely,  it  is  thought,  they  could  not  have 
been  accomplished  save  in  the  month  of  August,  when 
the  ice  was  dissolved;  and  since  it  is  likewise  said  that 
for  eighty  years  or  thereabouts,  absolutely  no  bishop 
or  priest  governed  that  Church  in  personal  residence 
which  fact,  together  with  the  absense  of  Catholic  priests, 
brought  it  to  pass  that  very  many  of  the  diocese  unhap- 
ily  repudiated  their  sacred  baptismal  vows ;  and  since  the 
inhabitants  of  that  land  have  no  relic  of  the  Christian 
religion  save  a  ceitain  Corporale,  annually  set  forth, 
upon  which,  a  hundred  years  ago,  the  Body  of  Christ 
was  consecrated  by  the  last  priest  then  living  there; 
— for  these,  then,  and  for  other  considerations,  Pope 
Innocent  VIII,  of  blessed  memory,  Our  Predecessor 
wishing  to  provide  a  suitable  pastor  for  that  Church 
at  the  time  deprived  of  the  useful  solace  of  the  same, 
at  the  advice  of  his  brethren,  of  whom  We  were  t  hen 
one  appointed  bishop  and  pastor  to  that  place  Our 
venerable  brother  Matthias;  the  latter  was  Bishop- 
elect  of  Garda,  a  professed  member  of  the  Order  of  St. 
Benedict,  and  had  been  announced,  at  Our  urging, 
while  We  were  still  in  minor  orders,  as  intending  to  sail 
personally  for  said  Church,  inspired  with  great  fervor 
of  devotion  to  lead  back  the  soul  of  the  strayed  and 
apostate  to  the  way  of  eternal  salvation,  and  to  expose 
his  life  to  the  greatest  danger,  freely  and  spontaneously, 
to  obliberate  such  errors.  We,  therefore,  highly  com- 
mending the  pious  and  praiseworthy  undertaking  in 
the  Lord  of  said  Bishop-elect,  and  wishing  to  succor 
him  in  the  above  circumstances,  because,  as  We  have 
likewise  heard,  he  is  sorely  pressed  by  poverty,  at  Our 
own  instance  and  with  the  certain  knowledge  of  the 
advice  and  approval  of  Our  brethren,  commit  to  and 


32  The  Makers  of  Maine 

order,  in  a  circular  letter  to  Our  esteemed  sons,  the 
scribes,  solicitors,  those  who  have  charge  of  the  seals, 
the  registrars,  and  all  the  other  officials  both  of  Our 
Apostolic  chancery  and  treasury,  that,  under  pain  of 
excommunication,  "lata  sentential  ipso  facto  incurred 
all  and  each  of  the  Apostolic  Letters,  about  and  concern- 
ing the  promotion  of  said  Church  of  Garda,  to  be  for- 
warded for  said  Bishop-elect,  be  forwarded  by  them 
and  caused  to  be  forwarded  in  all  and  each  of  their 
offices,  everywhere  gratis,  for  God,  and  without  payment 
or  exaction  of  any  tax,  all  contradiction  ceasing;  and 
to  the  clerics  and  notaries  of  the  Apostolic  treasury 
We  commit  and  command,  at  like  instance  and  knowl- 
edge and  under  said  pain  of  excommunication,  that  they 
freely  hand  over  and  consign  these  letters  or  Bulls  to 
said  Bishop-elect,  without  payment  or  exaction  of  any 
revenues,  or  even  of  small  fees,  or  of  the  other  claims 
usually  paid  in  similar  cases,  anything  enacted  to  the 
contrary  notwithstanding.  Let  it  be  done  everywhere 
gratis  because  he  is  extremely  poor.     R. 

As.  Ma.,  Vice  Chancellor .      Jno.  Datrarius,  {Secretary.) 


CHAPTER  IV. 
The  First  Expedition  of  the  French 

From  this  time  on  for  five  hundred  years  this 
region — Estotiland,  Drogeo,  Norumbega,  Maine, 
faded  from  the  memory  of  man;  and  the  shadows  of 
ignorance  and  barbarity  slowly  deepened  over  it. 
But  the  light  of  Christian  faith  had  once  been  brought 
to  it.  The  cioss  had  once  been  planted  in  its  soil, 
and  the  ashes  of  a  departed  Christian  rested  in  sanc- 
tified ground.  True  enough,  we  cannot  conceive  it  to 
be  any  part  of  the  divine  plan  that  the  western  natives 
were  to  be  Christianized  by  Thorwald  and  his  band 
of  hard  fighting,  hard  drinking  Norsemen  who  had 
barely  ceased  to  worship  Odin  and  Thor,  Frigga  and 
Freyja,  as  gods  and  goddesses  and  begun  to  fear  them 
as  demons  and  grisly  ghosts.  They  were  of  the  race 
and  time  that  used  the  sword  to  bring  converts  to  the 
font  and  regarded  the  baptism  of  blood  more  cheer- 
fully than  the  baptism  of  water.  We  must  remember 
that  they  were  the  followers  of  St.  Olaf,  king  and 
martyr,  who  died  in  a  pitched  battle  trying  to  drive 
instead  of  lead  his  rebellious  freemen  to  the  cross. 
We  must  remember  that  this  was  only  shortly  after 
the  time  of  Charlemagne,  who,  great  champion  of  the 
Church  though  he  was,  knew  only  one  effective 
ultimatum,  and  that  the  one  he  gave  to  the  Saxons 
at  Main  Bridge, — "Christianity  or  Death." 

But  we  may  be  permitted  to  imagine  that  the 
planting  of  the  cross  in  the  soil  of  Maine  by  Thor- 


34  The  Makers  of  Maine 

wald's  men  was  prophetic;  was,  like  the  cross  which 
Constantine  saw  in  the  skies,  a  sign  of  what  was  to 
come.  Thorwald's  wooden  cross  decayed  and  crumb- 
bled  and  resolved  itself  into  its  original  elements,  but 
the  promise  was  there,  and  never  departed.  And 
centuries  after,  when  Europe  was  torn  asunder  with 
religious  turmoil,  when  the  favorite  children  of  the 
Church  turned  upon  their  mother  to  rend  her  asunder 
in  their  madness,  the  mystic  light  of  Thorwald's 
cross  sent  its  beckoning,  insistent  beams  far  across  the 
stormy  Atlantic  to  the  souls  of  another  generation 
of  Crusaders  animated  and  inspired  by  a  different  zeal 
and  a  more  apostolic  understanding,  and  its  spiritual 
message  was  received  and  answered. 

Thus  it  was  that  the  somber-garbed  soldiers  of 
Ignatius  Loyola,  the  Society  of  Jesus,  the  greatest 
society,  clerical  or  lay,  that  the  world  has  ever  known, 
came  to  this  land  of  strange  and  barbarous  names, 
to  follow  the  light  of  the  cross  the  Norsemen  brought 
to  these  shores.  Strong  words  of  description,  you 
will  say,  to  call  the  Jesuits  the  greatest  society  the 
world  has  ever  known.  I  shall  not  try  to  defend  the 
use  of  them.  It  is  not  for  me  to  attempt  to  add  my 
small  measure  of  praise  to  this  great  order  whose 
members,  both  those  exalted  and  those  of  low  degree, — 
are  as  silent  as  the  dumb  when  the  faintest  word  of 
praise  of  their  society  is  uttered  in  their  presence. 

Their  work  and  labor,  their  marvellous  deeds, 
their  great  achievements,  I  shall  mention  in  a  succeed- 
ing chapter.  The  great  and  lasting  good  they  nearly 
accomplished,  had  it  not  been  for  greed  and  covet- 
ousness,  uncharitableness  and  illiberality,  I  shall  try 
to  give  full  credit  for.  How  the  bitter  religious  tur- 
moil of  Europe  was  transferred  to  this  unfortunate 
soil,   from  the  time  when   Francis   I   of   France   said 


The  First  expedition  of  the  French      35 

that, —  "He  would  like  to  see  the  clause  in  Adam's 
will  which  made  this  continent  the  exclusive  possess- 
sion  of  his  brothers  of  Spain  and  Portugal;"  and 
Queen  Elizabeth  granted  a  charter  to  Sir  Humphrey 
Gilbert, — "to  allow  of  the  discovery  of  lands  in  Ameri- 
ca fatally  reserved  to  England  for  the  honor  of  her 
majesty,"  I  will  endeavor  to  show  faithfully,  care- 
fully and  in  the  spirit  of  fairness. 

Strange  beliefs  were  held  and  strange  tales  told 
of  this  region  in  those  days.  Other  enemies  than 
human  ones  inhabitated  these  rocky  shores.  Griffins, 
hob-goblins,  and  demons  roamed  the  forests  of  New 
Foundland  and  Labrador.  The  superstitious  sailors 
heard  the  infernal  cries  of  these  beings  echoing  from 
cliff  to  cliff. 

Andre  Thevet  writes:  "True  it  is,  and  I  myself 
have  heard  it,  not  from  one,  but  from  a  great  number 
of  the  sailors  and  pilots  with  whom  I  have  made  many 
voyages,  that  when  they  passed  this  way  they  heard 
in  the  air,  on  the  tops  and  about  the  masts,  a  great 
clamor  of  men's  voices,  confused  and  inarticulate, 
such  as  you  may  hear  from  the  crowd  at  a  fair  or 
market-place,  whereupon  they  well  knew  that  the 
Isle  of  Demons  was  not  far  off." 

Marc  Lescarbot,  who  was  far  from  credulous, 
who  was  indeed  rather  skeptical  for  his  time,  relates 
some  wild  tales  which  were  told  to  him.  I  quote  the 
following  which  he  sets  forth: 

"There  is  another  strange  thing  worthy  of  record, 
of  the  truth  of  which  many  savages  have  assured  me. 
It  is  that  to  southward,  near  Chaleur  Bay,  lies  an  isle 
where  lives  a  dreadful  monster  called  by  the  savages 
Gougou,  which  they  told  me  had  a  woman's  shape, 
but  very  terrible,  and  so  tall,  said  they,  that  the  tops 
of  the  masts  of  our  vessel  would  not  have  reached 


36  The  Makers  of  Maine 

her  waist,  so  tall  do  they  describe  her,  and  that  she  has 
often  devoured,  and  still  devours,  many  savages, 
whom  she  puts  in  a  great  pouch  when  she  can  catch 
them,  and  then  eats  them;  and  those  who  had  escaped 
the  peril  of  this  unchancy  beast  said  that  this  pouch 
was  so  large  that  she  could  have  put  our  vessel  in  it 
This  monster,  whom  the  savages  call  Gougou,  makes 
terrible  noises  in  this  island;  and  when  they  speak  of 
it,  it  is  always  with  a  strange  and  unequalled  fear, 
and  many  have  assured  me  that  they  have  seen  it. 
The  said  Monsieur  Prevert  of  St.  Malo  himself  told 
me  that  on  his  way  to  explore  the  mines  he  had  passed 
so  near  the  lair  of  this  dreadful  beast,  that  he  and 
all  his  crew  heard  strange  hissing  noises  made  by  it, 
and  that  the  savages  with  him  told  him  that  it  was  the 
same  beast,  and  were  so  afraid  that  they  ran  every- 
where to  hide  themselves  for  fear  that  it  had  come  to 
carry  them  off;  and  I  am  led  to  believe  their  tale  by 
the  general  fear  which  all  the  savages  have  of  it,  and 
the  strange  tales  they  tell  of  it,  in  so  much  that  if 
I  were  to  set  down  all  they  tell,  it  would  be  thought 
fabulous;  but  I  hold  it  to  be  the  haunt  of  some  devil 
who  torments  them  in  this  fashion.  This  then  is 
what  I  have  learned  of  this  Gougou." 

Yet  Lescarbot  dismisses  with  scant  courtesy  a 
report  of  Jacques  Cartier's,  which  he  likens  to  one  of 
Pliny's  stories  of  an  unknown  race  of  Mouthless  Peo- 
ple once  living  near  the  source  of  the  Ganges.  He  says: 
"Nor  do  I  give  credence  to  the  tale  of  Captain  Jacques 
Cartier  when,  in  accordance  with  the  report  of  the 
savage,  Donnacona,  whom  he  brought  into  France  to 
tell  it  to  the  King,  he  speaks  of  certain  people  of  the 
Saguenay,  whom  also  he  affirms  to  have  no  mouth  and 
to  take  no  food,  with  other  tales  void  of  common  sense." 

Having  reached  the  beginning  of  the  seventeenth 


The  First  Expedition  of  the  French      37 

century  in  our  view  of  Maine  history,  it  is  well  to  pause 
and  look  around  at  general  history,  so  that  we 
may  see  what  was  going  along  in  the  Old  World  at 
this  time.  One  of  the  most  serious  drawbacks  that 
I  have  invariably  encountered  in  all  historical  writ- 
ings upon  special  subjects  is  the  fact  that  the  writer 
apparently  loses  sight  of  the  movement  of  contem- 
poraneous history  in  other  countries  than  the  country 
of  which  he  is  writing,  at  least  he  certainly  causes  his 
reader  to  lose  sight  of  it.  I  would  like  for  once  to 
read  a  work  of  special  history  which,  as  it  proceeds 
with  its  own  course  of  narration,  at  the  same  time 
keeps  its  reader  continually  informed  of  the  contem- 
poraneous history  of  the  rest  of  the  world.  The 
writer  who  could  do  that,  by  subconscious  suggestion, 
as  it  were,  would  be  the  greatest  historical  genius 
that  civilization  has  ever  produced. 

In  the  course  of  Maine  history  we  are  viewing  a 
period  which  coincides  roughly  with  the  stormy  per- 
iod of  European  politics  extending  from  the  Peace  of 
Augsburg  (1555)  to  the  breaking  out  of  the  Thirty 
Years  War  (1618)  that  fearful  war  when  for  the  first 
time  in  history  every  nation  in  Europe  was  arrayed 
in  arms.  It  is  the  time  when  Henry  IV  was  King  of 
France  (he  was  assassinated  in  1610.)  It  is  the  time 
when,  following  the  rise  of  Protestantism,  dissenting 
sects  were  springing  up  in  multitudes,  "hating  each 
other  for  the  love  of  God."  Two  sects  of  Lutherans, 
subscribers  and  non-subscribers  to  the  Formula  of 
Concord,  were  gnashing  their  teeth  at  each  other, 
both  at  the  Calvinists,  and  the  Calvinists  at  both; 
denying  one  another  the  liberty  of  conscience  which 
they  had  deserted  Rome  for  refusing  them.  Yielding 
to  ignorant,  and  often  godless,  secular  rulers  the 
authority  in  matters  of  faith  which  they  had  cursed 


38  The  Makers  of  Maine 

and  confusion  worse  confounded  reached  such  a  stage 
that  Phillip  Melancthon,  the  ablest  leader  of  thought, 
the  brightest  spirit,  the  one  sincere  apostle  of  the  re- 
formation, longed  to  die  to  escape  the  implacable 
quarrels  of  the  theologians. 

It  is  the  time  of  the  rise  (1540)  and  marvellous 
growth  of  the  Society  of  Jesus,  who  became  the  patrons 
of  education  and  learning,  and  the  militant  champions 
of  the  faith,  causing  that  movement  called  in  history 
the  counter  religious  revolution,  by  which  southern 
and  western  Germany  went  back  into  the  Church; 
missions  were  extended  to  far  Cathay,  where  Jesuits 
taught  astronomy  to  the  Mandarins  of  China,  disput- 
ed with  the  Japanese  theologians,  converted  the  fol- 
lowers of  Brahma,  preached  the  gospel  in  Abssinia, 
carried  the  cross  to  Paraguay,  and  wrought  miracles 
in  Brazil. 

One  who  reads  and  considers  the  historic  rise  and 
progress  of  the  Society  of  Jesus  at  this  critical  moment 
in  the  life  of  the  Roman  Catholic  Church,  the  marvel- 
lous achievements  of  its  members  in  every  phase  of 
human  activity,  in  the  courts  and  schools  of  Europe,  in 
the  wilderness  of  America,  in  the  jungles  of  Africa  and 
Central  Asia  in  the  innermost  sanctuaries  of  the  cen- 
turies-old learning  and  philosophy  of  the  Far  East, 
the  learning  and  philosophy  of  a  race  whose  civiliza- 
tion was  old  when  the  Europeans  were  savages  clothed 
in  the  skins  of  beasts,  barbarians  fighting  with  stone 
weapons, — facts  whose  truth  is  attested  by  the  most 
prejudiced  anti-Catholic  writers, —  when  one  considers 
these  things  with  a  fair  and  open  mind,  searching  for 
the  truth,  desiring  to  know  it,  one  is  forced  to  the 
conclusion  that  this  society  was  called  into  existance 
by  the  Direct  act  of  Divine  Providence,  because  the  dif- 
ficulties of  incredulity  are  greater  than  those  of  belief. 


The  First  Expedition  of  the  French      39 

The  introduction  of  the  subject  of  the  Jesuits  is 
not  out  of  place  because  very  soon  it  will  be  necessary 
in  the  development  of  our  subject  to  review  the  acts 
of  the  Jesuits  in  Maine.  And  an  understanding  of 
their  relations  with  the  Indians  is  very  necessary  to 
an  understanding  of  the  history  of  Maine. 

We  come  now  to  the  history  of  an  expedition 
and  a  settlement,  which  makes  one  of  the  most  interest- 
ing and  romantic  tales  of  all  the  history  of  this  country. 
Linked  with  the  story  is  the  name  of  one  of  the  great- 
est, most  energetic,  and  most  determined  men  of  all 
the  leaders  whose  names  make  a  galaxy  of  bright 
stars  in  the  pages  of  history, —  Sieur  de  Monts,  and  the 
the  settlement  of  Port  Royal,  now  known  as  Anna- 
polis, Nova  Scotia.  To  quote  the  words  of  Marc 
Lescarbot  in  beginning  his  history  of  that  period  of 
New  France:—  "In  this  book  I  wish  to  tell  the  story 
of  an  enterprise  at  once  the  most  valiant  and  the 
least  assisted  and  helped  of  all  that  we  French  have 
attempted  in  the  colonization  of  new  lands  over  sea. 
The  Story  centers  round  Monsieur  de  Monts,  by 
name  Pierre  du  Gua,  a  nobleman  of  Saintonge." 

Pierre  du  Gua,  or  as  the  name  is  now  usually 
spelled  in  historical  writings,  du  Guast,  was  born  in 
Saint  Onge  about  1560  and  fought  on  the  Protestant 
side  in  the  religious  wars.  His  life  ambition,  with 
which  one  may  say  he  seemed  to  be  posessed,  was  the 
settlement  of  the  New  World  by  Frenchmen.  So 
much  is  this  accepted  by  historians  as  a  historical 
fact,  that  it  is  commonly  believed  that  he  died  in  1611 
broken-hearted  as  a  result  of  his  failure  in  New  France; 
but  it  is  very  doubtful  that  he  died  so  early  after  the 
Port  Royal  expedition.     He  was  certainly  alive  in  1611. 

King  Henry  IV  on  the  eighth  day  of  November 
1603  issued  to  de  Monts  letters-patent  creating    him 


40  The  Makers  of  Maine 

Lieutenant-General  of  the  king  in  the  lands  of  New 
France  from  the  fortieth  to  the  forty-sixth  degrees 
of  latitude,  and  giving  him  sole  authority  and  juris- 
diction over  them.  In  the  letters-patent  the  lands 
are  called  "La  Cadie", — the  earliest  reference  to  the 
name,  "Acadia,"  in  any  public  document.  Cham- 
plain  uses  the  name  in  his  "Voyages,"  but  spells  it 
always  with  an  "r".  There  is  a  dispute  as  to  the 
origin  of  the  name,  some  holding  it  to  be  a  corruption 
of  "Arcadia";  it  seems  to  me,  however,  that  the  most 
likely  origin  is  from  the  Micmac  Indian;  the  ending  of 
the  word  is  commonly  found  in  the  names  of  places  in 
the  Micmac  dialect,  such  as  Passamaquoddy,  and 
Tracadie. 

The  letters-patent  make  more  interesting  reading 
than  most  of  such  documents.  For  instance,  the  King 
evidently  feared  that  it  might  be  difficult  for  de  Monts 
to  secure  men  enough  for  the  expedition,  for  the  letters 
say:  "  *  *  *  *  Shall  establish  garrisons  of  armed 
men  for  their  protection.  For  which  purposes  you  are 
permitted  to  make  use  of  and  to  impress  all  vagabonds, 
idlers  and  masterless  men,  both  in  town  and  country, 
and  all  criminals  condemned  to  perpetual  banishment, 
or  to  exile  from  the  kingdom  for  at  least  three  years, 
provided  always  that  the  said  impressment  be  with 
the  knowledge  and  consent  and  on  the  authority  of 
our  officers." 

In  order  that  de  Monts  might  have  an  assured 
monopoly  of  the  traffic  in  furs,  the  king  forbade  any 
competition  under  penalty  of  confiscation  of  vessels 
and  goods  and  a  fine  of  30,000  francs  in  addition. 

The  story  of  the  de  Monts  expedition  introduces 
to  our  acquaintance  another  gentleman  of  France 
whose  personalty  and  career  are  interesting, — Jean 
de  Biencourt,  Seignieur  de  Poutrincourt,   or  as  he  is 


Samuel  de  Cliamplain 


The  First  Expedition  of  the  French      41 

known  in  historical  writings,  simply, — de  Poutrincourt. 
He  was  descended  from  a  family  prominent  in  France. 
He  had  a  love  of  adventure  and  travel  and  was  desirous 
of  possessing  lands  in  the  new  world  where  he  might 
live  with  his  family  and  make  the  future  home  of  him- 
self and  his  descendants. 

The  expedition  sailed  from  Havre  de  Grace  in 
two  ships,  on  the  seventh  day  of  March,  1604,  according 
to  Lescarbot, — on  the  seventh  of  April  according  to 
Champlain,  who  is  followed  in  the  matter  of  this  date 
by  Francis  Parkman.  This,  as  we  well  know  now,  is 
the  season  of  most  stormy  and  dangerous  passage  in 
the  northern  waters.  The  expedition  found  their 
voyage  no  exception  in  this  regard.  Calling  to  our 
aid  even  a  very  little  imagination  we  can  easily  conceive 
a  picture  of  the  dangers  and  risks  these  men  took 
in  their  little  ships  on  these  comparatively  unknown 
waters.  If  a  great  steamship  of  modern  construction 
is  in  constant  danger  of  annihilation  by  ice  bergs  with 
all  the  protection  of  modern  ingenuity,  what  must 
have  been  the  danger  that  those  adventurers  exposed 
their  lives  to,  and  what  must  have  been  the  courage,  love 
of  adventure,  and  high  ambition  which  actuated  them. 

Marc  Lescarbot  offers  his  explanation  of  why 
there  is  more  ice  in  those  waters  than  there  is  off  the 
coast  of  France  in  the  same  latitude,  that  the  sea  of 
France  is  sheltered  by  the  British  Isles  and  the  ice 
bergs  cannot  reach  it,  whereas  the  broad  Atlantic 
has  no  such  protection.  Although  we  know  wiser 
reasons  now,  yet  Lescarbot's  explanation  is  not  lacking 
in  ingenuity,  and  shows  that  he  was  a  keen  observer 
and  a  good  reasoner. 

The  two  ships  were  separated  during  the  course 
of  the  stormy  passage,  and  the  ship  carrying  de  Monts 
and  Poutrincourt  made  land  at  a  harbor  in  the  44th 


42  The  Makers  of  Maine 

degree  of  latitude,  May  6th.  This  harbor  is  now 
known  as  Liverpool.  They  named  it  Port  Rossignol, 
because  when  they  arrived,  they  found  a  certain 
Captain  Rossignol  there  before  them,  bartering  in 
furs.  They  promptly  confiscated  his  ship  for  violation 
of  the  King's  decree,  of  which  poor  Rossignol  could 
never  have  had  opportunity  of  hearing;  and  in  poetic 
justice  they  consoled  him  by  making  his  name  famous. 
As  a  matter  of  fact  the  river  flowing  into  this  harbor 
is  still  called  Rossignol  River.  After  some  weeks, 
with  the  help  of  the  Indians,  they  located  their  com- 
panion ship  at  the  Bay  of  Islands. 

A  strange  incident  happened  while  they  were 
lying  in  St.  Mary's  Bay, — a  part  of  the  coast  of  Nova 
Scotia  still  so  called.  The  story  is  related  by  both 
Champlain  and  Lescarbot,  and  Parkman  repeats  it. 
It  seems  that  two  clergymen  accompanied  the  expe- 
dition, one  a  Hugenot  and  the  other  a  Catholic,  secular, 
priest,  that  is, — not  belonging  to  any  of  the  orders. 
Fame  has  preserved  the  name  of  the  latter  because 
of  his  almost  miraculous  escape  from  death.  Monsieur 
Aubrey  was  a  young  churchman  who  joined  the  ex- 
pedition much  against  the  will  of  his  family.  On 
the  voyage  he  and  his  religious  confrere,  whom  we  must 
rather  call,  his  religious  rival,  had  many  a  warm 
dispute  and  wrangle  about  religion  and  theology. 
While  the  ships  were  anchored  in  St.  Mary's  Bay 
he  accompanied  a  party  for  a  little  jaunt  through 
the  woods.  Having  stopped  at  a  spring  to  get  a  drink 
of  water,  and  leaving  his  sword  behind  in  his  hurry 
to  catch  up  with  the  rest  of  the  party  again,  he  went 
back  to  find  the  sword.  He  not  only  could  not  find 
the  spring  again,  but  he  lost  his  sense  of  direction 
in  the  woods,  and  became  totally  lost.  At  nightfall 
he  was  missed  and  a  search  was  instituted,  but  to  no 


The  First  Expedition  of  the  French      43 

avail.  For  several  days  they  continued  the  search, 
until  at  last  they  gave  him  up  for  dead.  Sixteen  days 
afterwards  two  of  the  party  were  fishing  near  Long 
Island,  (still  so  called,)  when  they  heard  a  feeble  shout. 
To  their  great  surprise  they  found  that  it  was  none 
other  than  Aubrey.  They  took  him  to  camp,  and  fed 
him  carefully  till  he  regained  his  strength.  During 
all  those  sixteen  days  he  had  lived  on  nothing  but 
berries.  Lescarbot  considered  it  a  miracle.  He  cites 
many  other  strange  cases  of  persons  fasting  for  many 
days,  but  considers  this  case  the  most  wonderful 
of  all  because  this  young  man  had  made  no  preparations 
for  such  a  fast,  while  in  most  other  cases  preparation 
had  been  made,  and  usually  they  were  sustained  by 
religious  ecstasy. 


CHAPTER  V 
The  Port  Royal  Expedition 

Now  we  come  to  the  establishment  of  the  settle- 
ment of  Port  Royal,  famous  in  history.  Champlain 
and  Lescarbot  both  describe  Port  Royal  and  its  location. 
Both  were  enthusiastic  over  its  great  natural  beauty 
and  have  left  us  glowing  descriptions.  An  amusing 
literary  quarrel  was  carried  on  between  the  two  writers, 
amusing  to  us  at  this  day,  but  no  doubt  very  serious 
to  them.  The  two  men  were  friends  at  first  but  a 
coolness  grew  up  in  the  course  of  time  which  ripened 
into  positive  mutual  dislike.  The  literary  aspect  of  the 
quarrel  presents  itself  in  disputes  in  their  histories 
as  to  the  question  who  should  have  the  credit  of  one 
thing  and  another.  Both  agree  that  the  settlement 
was  called  Port  Royal  for  the  great  natural  beauty 
of  its  location,  but  disagree  on  the  subject  of  who 
gave  it  its  name.  Champlain  maintains  that  he  did; 
Lescarbot  claims  that  it  was  de  Monts.  After  Lescar- 
bot published  his  history,  Champlain  published  another 
edition  of  his  own  in  1632  and  insisted  upon  his  claim. 

Pourtrincourt  was  so  much  pleased  with  the  site  of 
Port  Royal  that  he  asked  de  Monts  to  give  it  to  him, 
which  was  done,  and  the  King  afterwards  confirmed 
the  grant  by  letters-patent.  Thus  Jean  de  Biencourt, 
Sieur  de  Poutrincourt,  became  Lord,  Seigneur,  of  a 
barony  in  the  New  World;  and,  as  for  many  a  year 
the  bounds  of  what  we  now  call  Maine  were  indefinite, 
and  as  France  always  claimed  it  as  a  part  of  Acadia, 


The  Port  Royal  Expedition  45 

and  England  admitted  the  claim  for  the  largest  part  of 
it,  so  the  Sieur  de  Poutrincourt  became  the  first  lord  and 
ruler  having  landed  proprietorship  and  jurisdiction  in 
the  country  a  part  of  which  afterwards  became  the  State 
of  Maine.  We  will  consider  the  claims  of  Ferdinando 
Gorges,  and  the  County  Palatine  of  Maine,  later. 

The  confident  words  of  Lescarbot  as  he  writes  of  this 
subject  have  a  solemn  sound  to  us  now  as  we  consider 
what  changes  afterwards  took  place  and  reflect  upon  the 
old  proverb, — "Man  proposes,  God  disposes."  These 
are  Lescarbot's  words:  "M.  de  Poutrincourt  received  his 
grant,  and  since  then  has  taken  out  letters  of  confirma- 
tion from  the  King,  and  intends  to  retire  thither  with  his 
household,  there  to  establish  the  name  of  Christ  and  of 
France  as  far  as  his  power  shall  extend  and  God  grants 
him  the  means."  His  ambition  was  lofty  and  noble,  but 
his  power  and  means  were  limited.  His  reign  as 
Seigneur  of  Port  Royal  was  brief. 

The  Frenchmen  were  very  much  impressed  by  the 
River  St.  John,  which,  as  Lescarbot  and  Champlain 
agree,  was  so  named  becaus  the  exploring  party 
arrived  in  the  river  on  the  24th  of  June,  St.  John's 
day,  a  day  now  celebrated  above  all  other  holidays 
in  the  year  by  the  French  of  Canada  and  their  de- 
cendants  who  have  made  homes  for  themselves  in 
the  States.  Besides  the  beauty  of  its  scenery,  they 
made  much  of  its  usefulness  for  navigation,  once  the 
falls  at  the  head  of  the  harbor  were  safely  negotiated 
at  the  right  stage  of  the  tide.  And  the  fishing  was  so  good, 
that,  as  they  said,  they  could  light  a  fire  and  put  the 
pot  on  to  boil  and  by  the  time  the  water  had  reached 
the  boiling  point  they  could  have  enough  fish  caught 
to  fill  the  pot. 

Above  all  other  points,  however,  the  strategic 
location  of  Port  Royal  for  purposes  of  communication 


46  The  Makers  of  Maine 

with  the  St.  Lawrence  valley  and  Quebec  in  time 
of  peace  as  well  as  war,  was  noteworthy.  Here  the 
foresight  of  these  explorers  and  adventurers  is  seen 
to  be  remarkable.  In  six  days  they  could  reach  Gaspe 
and  the  Bay  of  Chaleur,  almost  entirely  by  water, 
being  obliged  to  carry  their  canoes  only  a  few  miles, 
and  in  eight  days,  Tadousac.  So,  as  Lescarbot 
said,  in  from  fifteen  to  eighteen  days  they  could  get 
news  to  their  countrymen  who  lived  along  the  St. 
Lawrence,  whereas  it  would  have  taken  a  month  to 
do  so  by  sea.  This  fact  should  be  remembered  in  con- 
sidering the  history  of  the  tide  of  war  which  rolled  back 
and  forth  over  our  country  of  Maine  and  Acadia,  be- 
tween the  English  and  the  French  for  so  many  long 
years. 

Under  the  direction  of  Champlain  an  encampment 
was  made  on  the  island  which  was  named  St.  Croix, 
in  modern  times  known  as  Dochet  Island;  but  a  few 
years  ago,  the  year  of  1904,  renamed  St.  Croix.  It 
is  located  near  the  mouth  of  the  St.  Croix  river.  Les- 
carbot criticized  Champlain  severely  for  this  choice 
of  a  camp,  and  it  is  quite  generally  agreed  that  in 
this  he  was  right.  Champlain  was  a  great  warrior 
and  a  great  leader,  but  in  many  respects  he  did  not 
show  good  judgement  and  foresight.  Certainly 
Lescarbot  was  right  in  his  opinion  that  an  island  was 
no  place  to  start  the  founding  of  a  colony;  it  was  a 
poor  situation  from  the  point  of  view  of  cultivating 
the  soil,  and  poor  again  from  the  point  of  view  of  a 
strategic  position  for  defense  in  time  of  war. 

The  remarkable  difference  in  the  attitude  of 
the  Indians  towards  the  French,  their  very  friendly 
attitude,  in  contradistinction  to  their  attitude  toward 
the  English,  an  attitude  on  the  whole  of  enmity,  except 
in  the  few  instances  of  alliances  for  purposes  of  warfare, 


The  Port  Royal  expedition  47 

was  early  shown  in  the  treatment  of  Jacques  Cartier 
during  his  voyages.  The  next  impressive  instance 
we  find  is  in  the  case  of  the  de  Monts  expedition. 
It  seems  as  if  the  natives  at  once  accepted  the 
French  as  their  friends  and  brothers,  and  regarded 
de  Monts  himself  with  great  respect  and  reverence, 
as  almost  a  superior  being.  They  made  him  judge  in 
their  disputes  and  quarrels.  They  brought  him  dis- 
putes for  adjudication,  laid  their  cases  before  him,  pro- 
produced  their  witnesses,  made  their  arguments,  and 
accepted  his  decree  of  judgement  as  final,  and  obeyed 
implicity  his  decisions. 

When  winter  came  on  Poutrincourt  departed  for 
France  with  the  two  ships  leaving  de  Monts  and  his 
lieutenants  with  their  followers  to  get  through  that 
first  and  most  terrible  winter  as  best  they  could.  We 
have  read  of  the  sufferings  of  the  Pilgrims  in  their 
first  winters  on  the  shores  of  Massachusetts  Bay,  and 
Francis  Parkman  and  other  writers  have  told  the 
tale  of  the  troubles  and  sufferings  of  the  members  of 
the  de  Monts  company.  But  if  one  would  read  a 
vivid  account  of  what  that  first  winter  really  was, 
he  should  read  Marc  Lescarbot's  own  story  in  his 
History  of  New  France.  There  we  find  not  only  the 
tale  told  at  first  hand  by  one  who  knew,  but  we  read 
history,  written  by  a  master  hand  of  literature  and 
told  with  all  the  graces  of  good  literature  and  pol- 
ished rhetoric.  Here  is  a  man  whose  name  is  little 
known  to  the  general  reader,  in  comparison  with  the 
names  of  Champlain,  Charlevoix  and  the  other  great 
Frenchmen  who  were,  at  once,  doers  of  things,  leaders 
of  men,  and  writers  of  history.  But  no  abler  man, 
brighter  spirit,  braver  leader,  and  master  of  letters, 
ever  set  his  foot  upon  this  western  land.  Had  it  not 
been  for  him  and  his  brave  spirit  and  bright  mind, 


48  The  Makers  of  Maine 

this  company  of  de  Monts  would  have  probably 
perished  in  that  terrible  winter  when  out  of  a  com- 
munity of  seventy-nine,  thirty-five  died  before  spring. 
In  Champlain's  history  of  this  expedition  a  more  full 
and  carefully  detailed  account  is  written  of  the  plague 
of  scurvy  which  swept  over  the  camp.  But  Lescarbot 
discusses  the  epidemic,  its  causes,  and  its  remedies 
in  a  very  skillful  manner  according  to  the  light  he  had 
on  the  subject  from  a  pathological  point  of  view.  His 
innate  good  sense  and  good  judgement  told  him  that 
what  was  needed  to  fight  off  scurvy  was  not  merely 
fresh  vegetables,  but  plenty  of  out-door  exercise 
and    work. 

Charlevoix,  than  whom  no  one  was  better  qualified 
to  form  a  correct  judgement  of  Lescarbot,  except,  of 
course,  Champlain,  who  was  not  on  friendly  terms  with 
him,  says:  "Marc  Lescarbot,  an  advocate  from 
Paris,  a  man  of  ability,  strongly  attached  to  M.  de 
Poutrincourt,  had  had  a  curiosity,  quite  unusual 
in  men  of  his  profession,  to  see  the  New  World;  and  he 
was  highly  instrumental  in  putting  and  retaining 
things  in  this  happy  state.  He  encouraged  some, 
he  touched  the  honor  of  others,  he  won  the  good  will 
of  all,  and  spared  himself  in  naught.  He  daily  in- 
vented something  new  for  the  public  good.  And 
there  was  never  a  stronger  proof  of  what  advantage 
a  new  settlement  might  derive  from  a  mind  cultivated 
by  study,  and  induced  by  patriotism  to  use  its  know- 
ledge and  reflections.  We  are  indebted  to  this  advo- 
cate for  the  best  memoirs  we  possess  of  what  passed 
before  his  eyes,  and  for  a  history  of  French  Florida. 
We  there  behold  an  exact  and  judicious  writer,  a  man 
with  views  of  his  own,  and  who  would  have  been  as 
capable  of  founding  a  colony  as  of  writing  its  history." 

This  is  all  the  higher  praise  for  Lescarbot  coming 


The  Port  Royal  Expedition  49 

as  it  does,  from  a  Jesuit,  for  whose  order  Lescarbot 
showed  but  little  love.  It  is  a  great  pity  that 
Lescarbot  could  not  have  remained  longer  in  New 
France  or  made  other  voyages  to  different  parts  of  it, 
for  there  is  no  historian  of  that  period  whose  writings 
are  so  valuable  as  history  and  so  interesting  and 
pleasing  as  literature. 


CHAPTER  VI 
Marc  Lescarbot— His  Character  and  Writing 

As  soon  as  the  weather  permitted,  after  the  hard 
winter  which  the  company  had  passed  at  St.  Croix, 
de  Monts  ordered  an  exploring  expedition  along  the 
coast  to  the  west  and  south.  Lescarbot's  story  of 
this  journey  is  especially  important  and  interesting 
to  us  who  are  engaged  in  the  study  of  Maine  history, 
for  two  reasons  in  particular.  First  Lescarbot's 
description  of  the  coast  of  Maine  is  interesting  of  it- 
self, and  it  is  remarkable  how  well  his  understanding 
of  what  he  saw  compares  with  the  true  facts  as  we 
know  them  now.  And  second,  he  discusses  the  old 
traditions  of  the  mythical  Norumbega,  and  disposes 
of  them  summarily,  and,  as  we  also  know  now,  with 
almost  wonderful  certainty  and  unerring  judgement. 
He  was  without  doubt  naturally  of  a  skeptical  turn 
of  mind,  but  with  his  skepticism  he  applied  a  clear 
and  careful  reasoning  sense.  He  gives  the  name, 
Norumbega  to  the  Penobscot  River,  but  dismisses 
with  scant  courtesy  the  tales  of  the  wonderful  city 
called  Norumbega  situated  somewhere  on  the  river. 
His  quotation  from  the  book  published  at  Douay  in 
1607,  entitled  the  General  History  of  the  West  Indies, 
is  as  follows:  "Further  northward  is  Norumbega, 
known  well  enough  for  a  fine  city  and  a  broad  river, 
though  the  origin  of  the  name  in  unknown;  for  the 
savages  call  it  Agguncia.  At  the  mouth  of  this  river 
is  an  island  well  suited  for  fishing.     The  region  along 


Marc  Lescarbot  51 

the  seacoast  abounds  in  fish,  and  towards  New  France 
wild  beasts  are  found  in  great  numbers;  it  is  well  suited 
for  hunting,  and  the  inhabitants  live  in  the  same  man- 
ner as  those  of  New  France."  Lescarbot  says  that  if 
this  fair  town  ever  existed,  he  would  fain  know  who 
has  destroyed  it  in  the  last  eighty  years. 

The  company  followed  the  coast  line  of  Maine 
very  closely,  entering  the  mouth  of  the  Kennebec  riv- 
er, called  by  the  French  "Kinibeki,"  exploring  Casco 
Bay,  and  proceeding  some  distance  down  the  shore 
of  New  Hampshire  and  Massachusetts;  but  they 
returned  satisfied  that  there  was  no  better  place  to 
found  a  permanent  settlement  than  where  they  were. 
It  seems  that  de  Monts  would  have  preferred  to  make 
the  settlement  at  some  place  further  south,  about  six 
degrees  of  latitude  south  of  St.  Croix,  but  as  they 
could  not  find  a  suitable  location,  they  decided  to 
transfer  the  camp  from  St.  Croix  to  Port  Royal. 

On  the  coming  of  a  certain  M.  du  Pont  from 
France  with  aid  for  the  colonists,  de  Monts  decided  to 
return.  Lescarbot  went  back  to  France  with  de 
Monts.  Champlain  stayed  on  at  Port  Royal.  Evi- 
dently the  new  man,  du  Pont,  was  in  command,  for 
we  read  that  he  put  Champdore,  their  sea-captain 
and  pilot,  in  irons,  considering  him  to  be  responsible 
for  the  shipwreck  of  their  long  boat. 

The  sound  judgement  and  foresight  of  Lescarbot 
is  shown  not  least  in  his  strong  indictment  of  the 
Frenchmen  for  their  disinclination  to  work  at  tilling 
the  soil.  He  says  that  in  those  days  this  employment 
was  regarded  as  degrading  for  a  gentleman,  it  being 
the  work  of  peasants  and  serfs.  He,  however,  looks 
upon  it  as  the  noblest  and  most  independent  of  all 
work,   "the  pursuit  of  our  first  fathers,  of  the  kings 


52  The  Makers  of  Maine. 

of  old,   and  of  the  greatest  captains  in   the  world." 
Lescarbot  was  many  years  ahead  of  his  times. 

De  Monts  found  Poutrincourt  ready  and  willing 
to  go  back  to  New  France,  and  at  the  request  of  Pout- 
rincourt, Lescarbot  agreed  to  go  with  him,  to  our 
own  great  and  lasting  gratitude,  for  as  I  have  said  be- 
fore, we  owe  more  to  Lescarbot  for  his  interesting 
historical  writings  than  to  any  other  man  of  those 
times.  With  all  his  genius,  however,  it  must  not 
be  assumed  too  readily  by  the  reader  that  he  was  so 
far  ahead  of  his  time  as  to  be  a  man  of  our  own  way 
of  thinking  in  all  things.  This  is  a  common  error  of 
many, — to  magnify  the  ability,  and  foresight,  and 
liberality  of  certain  men  whose  names  adorn  the  pages 
of  history,  and  whom  we  take  to  our  hearts,  and  place 
upon  a  pedestal  in  our  regard  high  above  all  other 
men  of  their  time,  because  we  see  in  their  character 
something  akin  to  our  own  ideal.  No  man  in  all 
history  was  altogether  ahead  of  his  day.  Lescarbot 
was  no  exception  to  this  rule.  He  had  much  of  the 
gentleman's  contempt  for  the  common  people.  Thus 
in  speaking  of  the  trouble  into  which  the  sailors  of 
the  ship  "Jonas"  got  themselves  at  the  port  of  La 
Rochelle,  before  sailing  to  New  France,  he  says:  "But 
the  common  people  is  a  queer  beast.  In  this  connec- 
tion I  remember  the  so-called  Peasants'  War.in  the  midst 
of  which  I  once  found  myself,  when  I  was  in  Quercy. 
It  was  the  most  bizarre  thing  in  the  world  to  see  this 
clutter  of  folk,  all  wearing  wooden  shoes,  whence  they 
had  got  the  name  of  Clackers  because  their  shoes, 
hobnailed  behind  and  before,  went  clack  at  every 
step:  This  motley  mob  would  hear  neither  rhyme 
nor  reason,  everybody  was  master,  some  were  armed 
with  a  sickle  at  the  end  of  a  stake,  others  with  some 
rusty  sword,  and  so  accordingly." 


Marc  Lescarbot  53 

Another  phase  of  Lescarbot's  many  sided  char- 
acter is  strange  and  interesting.  He  was  certainly  a 
Catholic  and  at  times  devout.  Certainly  he  seems 
to  take  a  pleasure  in  displaying  his  training  in  the 
study  of  the  Bible,  for  he  quotes  from  Scriptures 
very  freely.  Yet,  it  must  be  that  he  had  conceived 
some  prejudice  against  the  clergy,  and  especially 
against  the  Jesuits  in  his  college  days.  He  takes 
pleasure  in  giving  a  sly  dig  to  certain  priests  now  and 
then,  as  for  instance,  when  relating  the  extraordinary 
escape  from  death  by  starvation  and  exposure  of  the 
young  churchman  who  was  lost  in  the  woods  of  Nova 
Scotia  for  some  time,  which  I  have  written  about, 
he  slyly  says  that  the  poor  fellow  had  never  prepared 
himself  by  his  way  of  living  for  such  a  long  fast. 

Writing  of  the  stay  in  La  Rochelle  while  getting 
ready  for  the  voyage  to  New  France,  he  says:  "And 
since  I  am  undertaking  to  write  a  narrative  of  events 
in  the  manner  in  which  they  took  place,  I  will  say  that 
it  is  a  shame  to  our  religion  that  the  Protestant  minis- 
ters of  La  Rochelle  pray  to  God  daily  in  their  meetings 
for  the  conversion  of  these  poor  savage  tribes,  and 
also  for  our  own  safety,  and  that  our  Churchmen  do 
not  do  the  like.  In  truth  we  asked  neither  the  one 
nor  the  other  to  do  so,  but  in  this  the  zeal  of  each  is 
manifest.  At  length,  shortly  before  our  departure 
I  took  thought  to  ask  Monsieur  le  Cure  or  the  vicar 
of  La  Rochelle,  if  one  of  his  colleagues  could  not  be 
found  who  would  be  willing  to  come  with  us;  which 
I  hoped  could  easily  be  done,  for  there  were  plenty  of 
them  about,  and  furthermore,  as  we  were  in  a  seaport 
town,  I  thought  they  would  have  been  glad  to  sail 
the  billows.  But  I  could  get  nothing  out  of  them, 
and  was  given  as  excuse  that  none  would  go  on  such  a 
voyage,  unless  impelled  by  great  zeal  and  piety  and 


m  The  Makers  of  Maine 

that  I  would  do  well  to  address  myself  to  the  Jesuit 
Fathers.  This  we  could  not  then  do,  since  our  vessel 
was  almost  loaded.  In  this  connection  I  have  fre- 
quently heard  M.  de  Poutrincourt  say,  that  when  he 
was  at  court  after  his  first  voyage,  a  court  Jesuit  asked 
him  what  hopes  could  be  cherished  for  the  conversion 
of  the  tribes  of  New  France,  and  whether  they  were 
numerous.  To  this  he  replied  that  one  might  win  one 
hundred  thousand  souls  for  Jesus  Christ,  giving  a 
definite  number  instead  of  speaking  vaguely.  This 
good  father,  making  light  of  the  number,  thereupon 
exclaimed  with  wonder,  "Is  that  all?"  as  if  such  a 
matter  was  not  worth  one  man's  time.  And  yet 
were  there  the  hundreth  part  thereof  or  even  less, 
it  should  not  be  left  to  perish.  The  Good  Shepherd 
having  among  an  hundred  sheep  one  that  had  gone 
astray,  left  the  ninety-nine  in  order  to  go  in  search 
of  the  hundreth  (Matt.  XVIII.,  w.  12,13.)  We  are 
taught,  and  I  hold  it  true,  that  if  there  had  been  but 
one  man  to  save,  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  would  not 
have  disdained  to  have  come  for  his  sake,  as  He  has 
done  for  the  sake  of  us  all.  And  so  we  must  not  hold 
these  poor  tribes  so  cheap,  even  though  they  do  not 
swarm  in  numbers  as  in  Paris  or  Constantinople." 

In  these  statements  and  reflections  Lescarbot 
shows  himself  a  little  insincere;  first,  because  when  he 
wrote  the  later  editions  of  his  History  of  New  France, 
he  knew  something  of  the  great  work  the  Jesuits  were 
doing  in  the  New  World;  second,  because  he  knew 
that,  for  all  the  fervid  prayers  of  the  French  Protes- 
tant Ministers  in  their  churches  in  old  France,  they 
were  not  knocking  on  the  doors  of  New  France  to  do 
missionary  work  in  that  fertile  field.  Moreover, 
Lescarbot's  relation  of  the  conversation  had  by  Pout- 
rincourt with  a  certain  Jesuit  at  court  (whom,  by  the 


Marc  Lescarbot  66 

way,  the  editors  of  the  Champlain  society  edition  of 
Lescarbot's  history  say  was  the  celebrated  Pere  Cotton 
confessor  of  Henry  IV)  shows  clearly  that  Lescarbot 
wilfully  misinterpreted  the  Jesuit  Father's  reply  to 
Poutrincourt's  estimate  of  one  hundred  thousand 
Indians  waiting  to  be  saved.  We  ourselves  now  know 
that  was  an  exaggeration  of  the  number,  and  the  wise 
Jesuit  suspected  likewise,  and  we  can  easily  enough 
picture  to  ourselves  his  smile  and  raising  of  his  eye- 
brows as  he  replied, — "So!  one  hundred  thousand,  is 
that  all?" 

And  again,  we  read  with  wonder  Lescarbot's 
extraordinary  request  that  the  Church  permit  him  to 
carry  with  him  to  the  New  World  the  blessed  bread 
of  the  Eucharist,  that  he,  a  layman  might  feed  him- 
self upon  it,  and  administer  it  to  others  of  the  company 
who  might  want  to  receive  it  while  there,  no  priest 
being  with  them  to  celebrate  the  holy  Sacrifice  of  the 
Mass.  If  he  had  been  an  ignorant,  unlearned  man, 
one  might  overlook  the  matter;  but  he  was  not  merely 
an  educated  and  well  informed  man,  but  as  we  know 
well,  and  as  his  writings  prove,  if  we  had  no  other 
evidence,  he  was  a  man  well  trained  in  theology  and 
Church  history,  far  beyond  the  attainments  of  the 
ordinary  layman  of  his  times,  or  of  any  time.  These 
are  his  words  upon  this  matter: — 

"Seeing  that  I  had  made  no  progress  by  asking 
for  some  one  in  orders  to  administer  to  us  the  sacra- 
ments, whether  during  our  journey,  or  after  we  had 
landed,  I  bethought  me  of  the  ancient  custom  of  the 
Christians  on  their  journeys,  who  took  with  them  the 
blessed  bread  of  the  Eucharist,  and  this  they  did  be- 
cause they  did  not  everywhere  find  priests  to  adminis- 
ter this  sacrament  to  them,  since  the  world  was  at 
that  time  full  of  paganism  or  of  heresy.     In  so  much 


56  The  Makers  of  Maine 

that  it  was  well  called  the  viaticum,  the  provision  for 
the  way,  since  when  they  went  on  their  way,  they 
carried  it  with  them;  and  yet  I  agree  that  this  term  is 
to  be  understood  spiritually.  And  considering  that 
we  might  be  brought  to  this  necessity,  since  only  one 
priest  had  remained  in  the  plantation  of  New  France 
(and  his  death  was  announced  to  us  on  our  arrival,)  I 
asked  if  they  would  do  unto  us  as  to  the  ancient  Christ- 
ians, who  were  not  less  wise  than  we.  But  I  was  told 
that  this  was  done  in  those  days  for  considerations 
which  no  longer  exist.  I  pointed  out  that  Satyrus 
the  brother  of  St.  Ambrose,  when  on  a  sea-voyage, 
made  use  of  this  spiritual  medicine  (as  we  read  in 
the  funeral  oration  pronounced  by  the  said  St.  Am- 
brose) which  he  carried  in  orario,  which  I  take  to  mean 
in  a  cloth  of  linen  or  taffeta;  and  well  for  him  that  he 
did,  for  when  shipwrecked  he  escaped  on  a  broken 
plank  of  his  vessel.  But  herein  I  was  put  off,  as  in 
everything  else.  This  gave  me  cause  for  wonder,  and 
it  seemed  to  me  to  show  the  great  rigor  to  put  us  in 
worse  condition  than  the  early  Christians.  For  the 
Eucharist  is  in  no  way  different  today  from  what  it 
was  then,  and  if  they  held  it  precious,  we  did  not  in- 
tend in  asking  for  it  to  pay  it  less  regard." 

Those  words,  showing  as  they  do  a  mind  well  in- 
formed, show  also  a  great  insincerity,  for  he  knew  well 
that  his  request  could  not  be  granted,  and  he  asked  it 
only  for  the  purpose  of  having  it  refused. 


CHAPTER  VII 
The  First  French  and  Indian  Alliance 

I  have  once  before  spoken  of  the  courage  of  these 
early  explorers  to  brave  the  dangers  of  the  northern 
Atlantic  in  every  season  of  the  year  with  these  small 
ships.  Lescarbot  did  not  seem  to  realize  any  danger;  but 
he  appreciated  the  courage  of  the  sailors.  He  says: 
"But  I  cannot  pass  unnoticed  the  wonderful  courage 
possessed  by  good  sailors  amid  these  conflicts  of  wind 
storm  and  tempest.  While  the  ship  is  borne  aloft 
upon  mountains  of  water,  and  thence  glides  down  as 
it  were  into  the  most  profound  depths  of  the  world, 
they  climb  upon  the  rigging  not  only  to  the  cross-trees 
and  to  the  top  of  the  main-mast,  but  also  without  a 
ladder  to  the  top  of  another  mast  which  is  attached 
to  the  former,  holding  on  merely  by  the  strength  of 
their  arms  and  legs  entwined  about  the  top-mast 
rigging."  It  is  interesting  to  us,  and  we  read  with 
a  smile,  Lescarbot's  puzzled  attempt  to  account  for 
what  we  know  was  the  Gulf  Stream.  He  says:  "But 
here  in  passing  I  must  notice  a  matter  which  seems  to 
me  wonderful  and  meet  for  investigation;  about  this 
same  day,  June  18th,  we  found  for  the  space  of  three 
days  the  water  of  the  sea  quite  warm,  and  our  wine  in 
the  hold  was  the  same,  though  the  air  was  no  warmer 
than  before."  He  ascribes  the  phenomenon  to  the  ice- 
bergs, which, as  he  says, huddle  the  warm  waters  together 
in  a  region  by  themselves.  But  as  usual,  liberal- 
minded  as  he  is,  he  says:  "Such  is  my  opinion,  which 
does  not  hinder  anyone  else  from  having  his  own." 


58  The  Makers  of  Maine 

In  the  long  period  of  history  which  extends  from 
the  first  settlements  of  the  French  and  of  the  English, 
the  period  commonly  called  the  Colonial,  we  read  a 
great  deal  about  the  "French  and  Indian  Alliances" 
although  of  course  it  is  not  denied  that  there  were 
certain  alliances  between  those  of  the  Indian  nations 
who  were  hostile  to  the  French  allies,  and  the  English. 
It  is  undeniable,  however,  that  the  French  and  the 
Indians  were  allies  during  those  many  years  from  the 
earliest  time  to  the  fall  of  Quebec.  It  is  interesting, 
therefore,  to  find  the  first  alliance  and  fix  its  date. 
I  think  that  Marc  Lescarbot  relates  the  history  of  that 
first  alliance;  and  that  the  date  was  the  summer  of 
the  year  1606,  and  the  place,  one  of  the  Islands  of 
Casco  Bay.  De  Poutrincourt  contracted  the  alliance 
in  behalf  of  the  French.  Lescarbot  devotes  but 
few  words  to  the  fact  in  passing,  but  from  his  few 
words  we  can  see  that  it  must  have  been  made  in  all 
due  form  and  with  all  the  usual  ceremonies.  We  will 
quote  the  words  of  Lescarbot:  "Let  us  return  to  M. 
de  Poutrincourt,  whom  we  have  left  on  the  island  of 
St.  Croix.  After  holding  a  review  there,  and  treating 
tenderly  the  Indians  who  were  present,  he  went  in 
four  days  to  Pentegoet  (the  Penobscot  River),  which 
is  the  spot  so  well  known  under  the  name  of  Norum- 
bega.  So  long  a  time  for  the  journey  there  is  not 
needed,  but  he  halted  on  the  way  to  refit  his  boat, 
for  which  purpose  he  had  brought  with  him  a  lock- 
smith and  a  carpenter  and  store  of  planks.  Sailing 
through  the  islands  at  the  mouth  of  the  river  he  came 
to  Kinebeki  (now  the  Kennebec),  where  his  boat 
was  in  danger  through  the  swift  currents  caused  by 
the  nature  of  the  place.  On  this  account  he  did  not 
stop,  but  passed  on  to  Marchin  Bay  (now  Casco  Bay) 
so  called  after  an  Indian  Chief,  who  at  the  arrival  of 


The  First  French  and  Indian  Alliance     so 

the  said  gentleman  began  to  cry  out  in  a  loud  voice, 
"He!  He!"  to  which  a  like  cry  was  made.  He  re- 
sponded by  asking  in  his  own  tongue,  'who  are  ye?' 
and  was  told  that  they  were  friends.  Thereupon,  to 
win  him  over,  M.  de  Poutrincourt  made  a  treaty  of 
friendship  with  him,  and  gave  him  presents  of  knives, 
hatchets,  and  matachiaz,  i.e.,  scarves,  nacklaces,  and 
armlets  made  of  chaplets,  or  of  tubes  of  white  and 
blue  glass,  whereat  he  was  well  content,  and  also  at 
the  alliance,  which  the  said  M.  de  Poutrincourt  made 
with  him,  seeing  clearly  how  firm  a  support  it  would 
be  to  him." 

Here,  then,  in  Casco  Bay  was  the  first  of  that 
long  line  of  alliances  which  were  of  so  much  advantage 
to  the  French,  and  such  an  obstacle  to  the  English, 
indeed  so  hateful  were  they  to  the  latter  that  for 
many  generations,  even  down  to  within  the  memory 
of  those  now  living  the  descendants  of  those  English 
settlers  have  been  taught  as  children,  and  in  turn 
passed  the  lesson  on  to  their  children,  generation  by 
generation,  that  the  French  and  Indians  were  allies 
by  the  very  nature  of  their  character  and  disposition, 
than  the  one  were  as  cruel  and  blood-thirsty  as  the 
other.  Thus  do  ancient  enmities  perpetuate  themselves 
in  the  minds  of  the  people,  and  hatred  and  prejudice 
become  history. 

Let  us  turn  now  to  a  pleasanter  reflection  in- 
spired by  reading  Lescarbot's  relation.  On  the  same 
journey  in  which  the  alliance  was  made,  Poutrincourt's 
company  made  a  discovery  which  greatly  pleased 
them.  At  the  mouth  of  the  Saco  River  they  came 
upon  an  island  on  which  they  found  grape-vines 
growing  in  great  profusion.  This  was  a  glad  sight 
to  the  Frenchmen,  lovers  of  wine  as  they  were.  It 
was  the  first  time  that  they  had  found  the   grape   of 


60  The  Makers  of  Maine 

any  quality.  We  know  that  this  island  was  the  one 
now  called  Richmond,  and  it  has  long  been  noted  for 
its  vines. 

It  will  be  remembered  that  the  Norsemen  who 
sailed  along  this  coast  so  many  centuries  before  were 
likewise  impressed  by  the  discovery  somewhere  on  the 
coast  of  good  grapes,  so  much  so  that  the  Saga  pre- 
served the  story  of  how  the  German,  who  was  one  of  the 
company,  came  running,  crying  "Weintrauben,  wein- 
trauben,"  and  the  others  thought  that  he  had  mo- 
mentarily lost  possession  of  his  sanity.  From  this 
discovery  the  Norsemen  named  the  country,  "Vinland" 
and  we  know  not  but  this  spot  at  the  mouth  of  the 
Saco  may  be  the  identical  neighborhood  in  which  the 
Norsemen  made  their  settlement. 

Another  event  occurred  on  this  journey  of  Pout- 
rincourt's  company  which  carries  us  back  in  memory 
to  those  ancient  Norse  vikings.  The  French  had 
one  of  the  very  few  fights  with  the  Indians  that  Lescar- 
bot  was  obliged  to  relate.  The  company  had  pro- 
ceeded farther  south  along  the  coast,  when,  an  acci- 
dent happening  to  the  long  boat,  Poutrincourt  was 
obliged  to  have  it  hauled  up  on  shore  for  repairs. 
The  harbor  was  bad,  being  full  of  shoals  and  dangerous 
currents.  A  large  company  of  Indians  appeared  on 
the  scene,  and  as  their  manner  was  so  apparently 
hostile,  the  French  did  not  attempt  any  friendly  over- 
tures, but  drove  them  away  summarily.  After  the 
boat  was  repaired,  Poutrincourt  ordered  all  the  men 
aboard,  as  the  hostile  Indians  were  still  in  the  neigh- 
borhood. Five  of  the  company  disobeyed  orders  and 
remained  in  camp  on  the  shore  the  night  before  the 
morning  on  which  they  were  intending  to  make  their 
departure.  Early  at  dawn  the  Indians  came  silently 
and  fell  upon  the  sleeping  and  defenseless  five.     Two 


The  First  French  and  Indian  Alliance    6i 

were  killed  outright  before  the  alarm  could  be  given. 
The  other  three  ran  to  the  shore  crying  out  to  their 
friends  in  the  boat.  The  man  on  guard  in  the  boat, 
hearing  the  out-cry,  gave  the  alarm, — "To  arms,  to 
arms,  our  friends  are  being  murdered."  At  once  the 
men  in  the  boat  leaped  from  their  beds,  and  without 
taking  time  to  d.ess,  but  -natching  up  thei-  arms, 
th*.y  pi'ed  into  the  skiffs  and  pulled  to  the  shore  as  hard 
as  they  could.  Although  but  ten  reached  the  shore 
from  the  first  skiff,  the  Indians  did  not  dare  to  face  them, 
but  turned  and  made  oft  as  fast  as  they  could.  Lescar- 
bot  says  that  they  were  terrified  by  the  fierce  appear- 
ance of  the  French,  likening  them  to  the  faithful  of 
God  to  whose  faces  he  gives  a  mysterious  aspect  which 
strikes  terror  to  their  enemies.  But  it  is  not  at  all  un- 
likely that  the  savages  concluded  on  the  instant  that 
the  white  men,  who  were  so  ready  to  fight  that  they 
leaped  to  the  conflict  in  their  shirts,  would  prove  in- 
vincible, and  that  it  would  be  a  hopeless  contest  to 
oppose  them.  De  Poutrincourt  decided  that  it  would 
be  useless  to  pursue  them,  so  he  had  graves  dug  for  those 
who  had  been  killed.  Two  were  killed  at  once,  as  just 
related,  two  died  later  from  their  wounds,  and  the 
fifth,  as  Lescarbot  well  says,  would  have  been  far 
better  to  have  fallen  then,  because  he  was  the  man, 
Du  Val,  who  lived  to  join  the  settlement  later  at  Que- 
bec, and  was  hanged  there  by  order  of  Champlain  for 
being  the  ring-leader  in  the  conspiracy  against  Cham- 
plain.  The  story  of  the  conspiracy  is  related  by  Cham- 
plain  himself  in  his  book  and  Lescarbot  also  tells  it  in 
his  history. 

They  buried  the  dead  and  erected  a  cross  at  the 
grave;  which,  to  Lescarbot's  great  horror,  the  savages 
pulled  down  as  soon  as  the  boat  got  away  from  shore,  and 
not  content  with  that  sacrilege,  they  desecrated  the  grave, 


62  The  Makers  of  Maine 

dug  up  the  dead  bodies,  took  off  the  clothes  from  the 
bodies  and  putting  the  clothing  on  their  own  persons 
danced  about  with  great  glee.  These  Frenchmen, 
however,  were  men  of  determination,  for  they  at  once 
put  back  to  the  shore,  drove  the  Indians  off,  placed  the 
bodies  back  in  the  grave  and  again  set  up  the  cross. 
This  time  probably,  it  remained,  for  the  Indians  had  no 
further  reason  to  desecrate  the  graves,  having  obtained 
the  clothing  which  satisfied  them. 

The  thought  brought  to  our  minds  by  this  relation 
is  that  almost  exactly  six  hundred  years  before,  and 
almost  in  [this  exact  spot,  surely  within  a  compara- 
tively few  miles,  the  Norsemen  engaged  in  battle 
with  the  ancestors  of  these  bloodthirsty  savages,  who 
attacked  strangers  without  cause,  and  from  pure 
enmity  only,  and,  as  the  Sagas  tell  the  story,  one  Norse- 
man was  killed ;  but  he  was  the  leader,  a  brave  man  who 
died  like  a  Christian, — Thorwald  son  of  Eric.  And 
Thorwald's  last  command  to  his  followers  was  to  bury 
him  on  the  promontory  and  to  place  at  the  head  of  his 
grave  a  cross,  so  that  all  travelers  might  see  that  there 
lay  the  ashes  of  a  Christian  soldier.  Many  years 
passed  since  that  cross  was  set  up,  many  years  passed 
since  it  decayed  and  crumbled;  and  now  a  second  cross 
is  set  up  in  the  same  region  to  mark  the  resting  place 
of  another  Christian;  but  unhappily  in  the  stormy 
period  of  history  which  is  beginning,  many  such  crosses 
are  to  be  erected  over  the  country  before  the  wars  oc- 
occasioned  by  the  coming  of  a  higher  civilization  than 
existed  before  should  be  finished  and  peace  reign. 

Let  us  consider  a  tale  that  lightens  the  history  of 
fights  and  death,  trouble  and  hardship  which  accom- 
panied all  these  early  expeditions.  I  have  said  that 
Lescarbot  was  a  genius  in  many  ways.  As  Charle- 
voix truly  said,  he  was  as  competent  to  found  a  colony 


The  First  French  and  Indian  Alliance     63 

as  to  write  the  history  of  one;  but  it  was  in  the  field  of 
letters,  the  domain  of  the  fine  arts,  that. his  genius 
shown  the  most  brightly,  for  his  patron  saints  were 
the  Muses,  and  although  it  is  true  enough  that  he  did 
much  to  keep  the  company  of  Frenchmen  in  good  spirits 
by  his  inventions  under  the  patronage  of  the  Muses, 
yet  it  cannot  be  doubted  that  he  was  most  happily  en- 
gaged when  he  was  writing  a  poem  to  dedicate  to  New 
France,  or  an  ode  on  the  birthday  of  some  one  of  the 
Royal  Family,  or  best  of  all  an  impromptu  theatrical 
entertainment  to  enliven  the  company  and  give  every- 
body a  laugh. 

For  instance,  when  it  was  time  for  de  Poutrin- 
court  to  be  expected  home  at  Port  Royal  from  this 
journey  down  the  coast  which  has  been  described, 
(Lescarbot  did  not  accompany  that  exploring  expedi- 
tion, but  by  request  of  de  Poutrincourt  remained  at 
the  fort),  he  wrote  and  got  up  a  little  theatrical  enter- 
entertainment  in  honor  of  the  event  of  the  leader's 
return.  As  he  says:  "I  bethought  me  to  go  out  to 
meet  him  with  some  jovial  spectacle,  and  so  we  did." 
And  we  may  be  sure  that  it  was  jovially  received,  for 
the  verses  are  preserved  to  us,  Lescarbot  having  put  it 
among  the  various  poems  which  he  wrots  and  published 
under  the  tittle,  "Muses  of  New  France."  He  called 
this  one,  "Neptune's  Theatre." 

During  the  winter  that  now  followed,  he  kept 
up  the  spirits  of  all  by  writing  a  number  of  "jovial 
spectacles,"  in  which  all  had  to  take  part.  But  most 
interesting  was  his  "Ordre  de  Bon  Temps,"  which  is 
so  famous  that  no  historian  who  pretends  to  write 
any  account  at  all  of  the  Port  Royal  settlement  ever 
fails  to  allude  to  it.  This  Order  had  two  objects,  to 
keep  up  the  spirits  of  all  during  the  long  winter  in  the 
wilderness,  and  to  make  sure  that  they    had    a    good 


64  The  Makers  of  Maine 

table  bountifully  supplied  with  the  best,  and  cooked  in 
the  best  manner  possible.  He  gives  Champlain  credit 
for  proposing  the  idea,  but  it  was  he  who  took  charge 
and  made  it  a  success.  All  belonged  to  the  order,  and 
each  man  took  his  turn  at  acting  as  Chief  Steward 
for  a  fortnight.  And,  as  he  says,  there  was  no 
cafe  in  Paris,  however  celebrated,  that  served  a  better 
table  .The  dinner  in  the  evening  was  the  chief  meal 
of  the  day,  and  was  every  day  made  sort  of  banquet. 
They  all  march  in  to  the  table  each  man  carrying  a 
dish,  the  Chief  Steward  at  the  head  with  his  wand  of 
office,  and  the  collar  of  the  Order  about  his  neck. 
After  the  dinner  the  Chief  Steward  handed  over  to  his 
successor  in  office  the  collar  of  the  order  with  great 
pomp  and  ceremony,  each  drinking  to  the  other. 

It  would  be  interesting  to  copy  for  the  reader 
some  of  the  verses  composed  by  Lescarbot  during  his 
residence  at  Port  Royal,  but  as  they  are  written,  of 
course,  in  French,  no  translation  could  be  given  which 
would  convey  the  true  spirit  of  the  original,  for  our 
historian,  as  has  been  intimated,  was  something  of  a 
real  poet,  and  no  mere  rhymster. 


CHAPTER  VIII 

De  Poutrincourt  and  Lescarbot  Leave 
Acadia  and  Return  to  France 

Now  we  come  to  the  closing  days  of  the  de  Monts 
and  de  Poutrincourt  expedition  and  attempt  at  settle- 
ment, and  the  return  to  France,  which  obliged  Lescar- 
bot, with  great  regret,  to  leave  this  country  which  he 
had  learned  to  love  better  than  his  own  "belle  France." 
The  beautiful  season  of  spring  had  come,  and  on  the 
morning  of  Ascension  Day  they  received  the  bad  news 
from  France. 

The  learned  editors  of  the  Champlain  Society 
edition  of  Marc  Lescarbot's  History  of  New  France, 
have  made  an  error  in  a  foot-note  explanatory  of  the 
date  of  Ascension  Day.  It  should  be  said  to  their 
credit  that  it  is  the  only  error  that  they  have  made  in 
the  whole  edition,  and  they  deserve  the  lasting  grati- 
tude of  all  students  of  the  history  of  this  period 
for  their  scholarly  work;  but  this  error  is  so  glaring  as 
to  be  almost  laughable.  They  say  that  Ascension  Day, 
the  date  of  which  in  that  year  Champlain  has  fixed  as 
May  24th,  is  the  day  "often  called  Holy  Thursday." 
If  they  had  said  that  it  is  the  day  often  called  Christ- 
mas, they  could  not  have  been  farther  from  the  truth. 
To  return,  our  Frenchmen  learned  that  their 
company  had  been  dissolved  "contrary  to  honor  and 
duty,"  as  Lescarbot  puts  it.  The  Dutch,  it  seems, 
had  during  the  previous  year,  led  by  a  French  traitor 
named  La  Jeunesse,  carried  off  the  furs  from  the  St. 


66  The  Makers  of  Maine 

Lawrence,  which  resulted  in  loss  to  the  company,  and 
they  could  no  longer  furnish  the  money  needed  for  the 
support  of  the  colony.  And  further,  the  King's 
Council  had  revoked  the  ten  years'  monopoly  of  de 
Monts.  The  blow  was  all  the  harder,  for  if  they  could 
have  been  supported  but  one  year  longer  the  colony 
would  have  then  paid  for  itself,  and  would  no  longer 
require  assistance.  It  wanted  only  one  more  year 
to  get  on  its  feet. 

Great  as  was  the  regret  of  the  French,  that  is,  of 
the  leaders  of  the  expedition,  their  grief  at  leaving  was 
not  to  be  compared  with  the  grief  of  the  Sagamore 
Member tou  and  his  followers,  who  had  learned  to  love 
the  Frenchmen,  and  were  depending  on  them  as  allies 
against  their  enemies,  the  Armouchiquois  Indians. 
Lescarbot  says:  "He  (de  Poutrincourt)  was  ready  to 
say  adieu  to  Port  Royal,  when  on  a  sudden  Membertou 
and  his  band  arrived,  victorious  over  the  Armouchi- 
quois. And  since  I  have  given  a  description  of  this  war 
in  French  verse,  I  shall  not  fill  my  paper  with  it,  being 
desirous  rather  to  cut  short  my  tale  than  to  seek  new 
matter.  At  the  request  of  the  said  Membertou  he  re- 
mained yet  a  day  longer.  But  it  was  piteous  at  his 
departure  to  see  the  tears  of  these  poor  folk,  whom 
we  had  always  kept  in  hope  that  some  of  us  would 
remain  with  them.  At  last  they  were  compelled  to 
promise  them  that  next  year  we  would  send  households 
and  families  to  dwell  permanently  in  their  land,  and  to 
teach  them  trades  in  order  to  help  them  to  live  like  us, 
which  promise  did  in  some  sort  comfort  them." 

And  so  also  with  us,  although  there  are  many  more 
interesting  happenings  which  we  would  like  to  discuss, 
it  is  time  to  cut  short  our  tale  of  this  expedition,  for 
there  are  many  more  interesting  and  strange  events 
which  happened  later.     And  especially,  with  the  com- 


De  Poutrincourt  and  Lescarbot  Leave     67 

ing  of  the  Jesuit  Fathers,  a  new  period  of  history 
begins. 

Many  reasons  have  been  ascribed  by  various 
writers  of  the  history  of  the  de  Monts — de  Poutrin- 
ocurt  expedition  for  the  failure  of  the  colony;  and  of 
the  failure  of  the  later  settlement.  It  is  especially 
interesting  to  compare  the  Port  Royal  colony  with 
that  of  the  Pilgrims  which  came  later  and  succeeded. 
Doubtless,  the  failure  may  be  ascribed  to  more  than 
one  cause.  But  the  strongest  assurance  of  the  success 
of  a  colony  is  the  presence  of  women,  the  wives  and 
mothers  of  the  men  who  come  to  make  homes  in  a  new 
land;  and  likewise  the  greatest  weakness  of  a  colony, 
the  most  certainly  is  it  doomed  in  advance,  is  the  ab- 
sence of  those  same  women. 

The  names  of  de  Monts,  de  Poutrincourt,  and  Les- 
carbot, become  very  familiar  to  us  in  reading  the  his- 
tory of  this  period.  We  know  a  good  deal  about  the 
character  of  these  men  from  their  writings,  as  well  as 
from  the  writings  of  others  who  followed  soon  after 
them.  But,  one  of  the  greatest  puzzles  of  the  history 
of  this  period  is  to  determine  satisfactorily  whether  we 
are  to  count  these  men  on  the  side  of  the  Catholic 
Church  or  against  it.  De  Monts,  we  know,  was  a 
Calvinist,  but  as  to  de  Poutrincourt  and  Lescarbot, — 
they  are  assumed  by  historians  to  have  been  Catholics; 
their  acts,  however,  considered  as  a  whole  throw  much 
doubt  on  that  assumption.  Charlevoix,  the  Jesuit  writ- 
er of  a  history  of  New  France,  and  himself  one  of  the 
actors  in  that  greatest  of  dramas  enacted  in  this  half 
of  the  world,  speaks  very  confidently  of  de  Poutrincourt. 
He  says:  "M.  de  Poutrincourt  was  a  very  worthy 
man,  sincerely  attached  to  the  Catholic  ^religion ;  but 
the  calumnies  of  the  so-called  Reformers  had  produced 
an  impression  on  his  mind,  and  he  was  fully  determined 


68  The  Makers  of  Maine 

not  to  take  them  (the  Jesuit  Fathers)  to  Port  Royal." 
We  not  only  have  good  reason  to  doubt  Father  Charle- 
voix' sincere  statement  that  Poutrincourt  was  attached 
to  the  Catholic  religion;  but,  as  I  have  mentioned  be- 
fore, we  know  that  he  could  not  have  been  acquainted 
with  the  later  editions  of  Lescarbot's  History  of  New 
France,  or  he  would  have  seriously  moderated  his  ex- 
travagant praise  of  Lescarbot.  He  seems  from  his 
writings  not  to  have  fully  appreciated  the  conspiracy 
that  existed  among  de  Monts,  de  Poutrincourt,  and 
Lescarbot,  to  discredit  the  Jesuit  Fathers,  prevent 
them  from  coming  to  the  new  country,  and  in  very 
truth,  prevent  the  Indians  from  being  converted  to 
Catholicity. 

This  conspiracy  shows  itself  to  careful  readers  of 
history  in  various  aspects.  To  refer  again  to  Lescar- 
bot,— whose  history  we  reiterate  is  one  of  the  most  in- 
teresting and  on  the  whole  reliable  of  all  the  histories 
written  in  those  days,  you  will  remember  how  he  rather 
hypocritically  rebuked  the  Jesuit  Father  Cotton,  con- 
fessor to  the  King,  for  disbelieving  the  exaggerated 
number  of  Indians  waiting  to  be  converted  in  the  new 
world.  You  will  also  remember  that  he,  a  well  educated 
man,  and  exceptionally  well  read  in  theology,  asked  to 
be  allowed  to  carry  the  consecrated  host  of  the  sacrament 
of  the  Eucharist  with  him  on  the  journey  to  the  new 
world,  he,  a  layman,  knowing  that  such  athing  had 
never  been  done  since  the  first  years  of  Christianity. 
And  finally,  as  I  will  mention  in  more  detail  later,  he 
addressed  a  letter  to  the  authorities  of  the  Church 
in  which  he  gave  a  list  of  the  extraordinary  baptisms 
which  had  been  administered  to  the  Indians  during 
his  residence  at  Port  Royal,  while  the  only  priest  who 
was  with  them  was  the  secular  priest,  Flech6,  about 
whom  Lescarbot  writes  in  the  most  flippant  and  dis- 


De  Poutrincorrt  and  Lescarbot  Leave     69 

respectful  manner.  That  list  of  baptisms  had  been 
almost  a  standing  joke  of  historians  ever  since;  and  we 
have  good  reason  to  believe  that  De  Monts,  de  Poutrin- 
court,  Lescarbot  and  Fleche,  considered  the  whole 
matter  of  the  baptisms  as  a  huge  joke,  especially  so, 
when  we  read  the  names  of  Saints  and  Biblical  characters 
which  were  conferred  on  the  unsuspecting  and  ignorant 
savages. 


CHAPTER    IX 

blard  and  masse  are  chosen  from  jesuit 
Volunteers  to  go  to  Acadia 

We  read,  in  Fr.  Charlevoix'  History  of  New  France 
that  the  King,  on  confirming  the  grant  of  Port  Royal  to 
de  Poutrincourt,  notified  de  Poutrincourt  that  it  was 
time  to  labor  for  the  conversion  of  the  Indians,  and 
that  it  was  his  wish  that  the  Jesuits  should  be  taken 
over  there.  Fr.  Cotton,  confessor  to  the  King,  was  a 
Jesuit.  He  notified  his  superiors  of  the  wish  of  the 
king.  At  once  many  of  the  order  volunteered  for  the 
service  in  the  new  world,  but  only  two  were  selected. 
The  names  of  these  two  Jesuits  figure  on  many  pages 
of  history.  No  reliable  history  has  ever  been  written, 
by  Catholic  or  Protestant,  which  does  not  pay  high 
credit  to  those  two  men,  not  only  for  their  labors,  but 
for  the  romance  of  their  life  in  this  new  and  strange 
country  and  for  the  sufferings  which  they  were  fated 
to  undergo.  The  two  were  Father  Peter  Biard,  then 
professor  at  Lyons,  and  Father  Ennemond  Masse,  so- 
cius  (as  Charlevoix  says)  of  Father  Cotton. 

We  shall  quote  from  their  "Relations"  later, 
words  which  will  describe  their  experiences  from  the 
very  beginning  in  France  through  their  toils  in  Acadia, 
their  unhappy  captivity  at  the  hands  of  the  English, 
their  unmerited  sufferings  in  Virginia,  their  long  and 
miserable  voyages  and  their  final  deliverance  from  their 
enemies.  Their  own  words  telling  in  simple  and 
unaffected  manner  the  obstacles    which  were    thrown 


Baird  and  Mass£  71 

in  their  way  from  the  very  first  in  their  native  country 
of  France  by  their  own  countrymen  will  be  related; 
but  for  the  moment,  let  us  turn  to  the  relation  of  Charl- 
evoix and  de  Champlain. 

Charlevoix  says:  "Father  Biard,  at  the  commence- 
ment of  the  year  ((1608),  proceeded  to  Bordeaux, 
where  he  was  assured  the  embarkation  would  take  place. 
He  was  much  surprised  to  see  no  preparation  there; 
and  he  waited  in  vain  for  a  whole  year.  The  King, 
informed  of  this,  reproached  de  Poutrincourt  sharply, 
and  the  latter  pledged  his  word  to  the  King  that  he 
would  no  longer  defer  obeying  his  orders.  He  actually 
prepared  to  go;  but  as  he  said  nothing  of  embarking  the 
missionaries,  Fr.  Cotton  paid  him  a  visit,  to  bring  him 
to  do  so  in  a  friendly  way.  Poutrincourt  begged  him 
to  be  good  enough  to  postpone  it  till  the  following  year, 
as  Port  Royal  was  by  no  means  in  a  condition  to  receive 
the  Fathers.  So  frivolous  a  reason  was  regarded  by 
Father  Cotton  as  a  refusal,  but  he  did  not  deem  it  ex- 
pediant  to  press  the  matter  or  inform  the  king.  M. 
de  Poutrincourt  accordingly  sailed  for  Acadia;  and  with 
a  view  of  showing  the  court  that  the  ministry  of  the 
Jesuits  was  not  necessary  in  the  conversion  of  the  heath- 
en, he  had  scarcely  arrived  before  he  sent  the  king  a 
list  of  twenty-five  Indians  baptized  in  haste." 

As  these  chapters  are  tales  of  history,  rather  than 
a  detailed  and  consecutive  history  of  the  period,  and  the 
writer's  intention  has  been  throughout  to  select  events 
and  especially  characters,  of  history,  which  are  inter- 
esting and  romantic,  let  us  now  present  another  strange 
and  interesting  character,  who  from  his  whole  life  spent, 
as  it  was  in  this  land,  we  may  justly  say  was  one  of  the 
makers  of  what  is  now  Maine.  This  man  is  the  young 
Biencourt,  son  of  de  Poutrincourt.  At  the  time  when 
his  father  appointed  him  vice-admiral  and  vice-govern- 


72  The  Makers  of  Maine 

or  general  of  the  Port  Royal  Colony,  he  was  only  nine- 
teen years  of  age.  But  in  every  respect  save  years, 
he  was  a  man  fitted  to  lead  and  command.  We  might 
say,  however,  that  as  a  leader  he  had  one  fault, — he 
was  hot  tempered,  and  had  conceived  a  prejudice 
against  the  Jesuit  Fathers,  which  helped  to  make  the 
lives  of  Fathers  Biard  and  Masse  very  hard  and  dis- 
agreeable. 

In  February  1610  Poutrincourt  sailed  again  to 
Port  Royal,  not  taking  the  Jesuits,  as  I  have  just  before 
mentioned,  in  the  quotation  from  Charlevoix.  Mem- 
bertou  and  his  Indian  subjects  had  kept  everything 
at  Port  Royal  in  good  order  during  the  absence  of  the 
French,  the  buildings  were  preserved,  and  even  the  fields 
had  been  kept  up  by  the  Indians.  This  latter  fact  is 
the  strongest  proof  of  the  devotion  of  these  Indians 
to  the  French,  for  as  a  rule  the  Indians  had  little  regard 
for  cultivated  fields,  the  chase  being  their  preferred  mode 
of  obtaining  a  livelihood,  they  looked  down  upon  regu- 
lar cultivation  of  the  soil  as  beneath  a  warrior  and  a 
savage  gentleman. 

The  next  July  Poutrincourt  sent  his  son,  Biencourt, 
back  to  France  to  obtain  more  supplies.  The  assasin- 
ation  of  Henry  IV  in  the  meantime,  made  great  changes, 
and  was  certainly  a  severe  blow  to  the  success  of  the 
French  colonization  of  Acadia.  When  Biencourt  re- 
turned from  France  to  Port  Royal  he  carried  the  Jesuit 
Fathers,  Biard  and  Masse  with  him,  much  against  his 
will,  as  will  be  shown  later  from  the  relation  of  the 
Jesuits.  We  may  say  now  that  during  all  the  period  of 
the  residence  of  these  Fathers  in  Acadia,  Biencourt 
kept  up  a  continual  quarrel  with  them,  except  at  one 
time  just  before  the  Jesuits  sailed  from  Port  Royal 
to  found  their  new  colony  at  St.  Sauveur,  which  ended 
so  quickly  and  so  disastrously  at  the  hands  of  the  pirate, 


BAIRD  AND  MASS£  73 

Argall;  at  that  time,  as  is  related  by  the  Jesuits,  Bien- 
court  made  peace  with  them,  and  made  his  confession 
and  received  communion. 

This  young  man  was  the  first  of  the  French  settlers 
here  to  spend  his  whole  life  in  this  land  and  to  die  here 
as  a  settled  colonist.  His  life  must  have  been  one 
long  romance,  and  it  is  a  great  pity  that  no  account  of 
it  has  been  preserved  to  us.  But  no  account  was  ever 
written.  He  and  his  friend  who  shared  the  life  in  the 
wilderness  with  him,  Charles  de  la  Tour,  were  men  of 
action,  not  writers,  and  they  had  no  inducement,  as 
had  the  Jesuits,  to  commit  to  writing  their  daily  lives. 
The  name  of  La  Tour  afterwards  figures  much  in  the 
history  of  this  land  but  it  is  not  known 
that  he  ever  so  much  as  wrote  one 
letter  to  friends  in  France  telling  of  the  life  of  himself 
and  Biencourt  among  the  Indians.  When  the  Port 
Royal  colony  was  finally  abandoned  by  Poutrincourt, 
his  son,  Biencourt,  refused  to  return  to  France  with 
his  father.  He  and  his  friend  wandered  about  from 
place  to  placein  the  wilderness,  living  with  the  Indians. 
Being  natural  leaders,  they  probably  became  leaders 
of  the  Indians.  They  lived  their  life  and  died  their 
death. 


CHAPTER  X 

How  the  Jesuit  Relations  Came  to  be 
Written  and  Their  Historical  Value 

In  the  preceding  chapters  mention  has  frequently 
been  made  of  the  Jesuit  missionaries,  and  I  have  prom- 
ised to  point  out  the  important  influence  which  their 
coming  had  upon  the  course  of  Maine  history.  I  come 
now  to  the  stage  when  it  becomes  necessary  to  develop 
the  subject  in  some  detail. 

It  is  to  be  presumed  that  most  of  my  readers  are 
familiar  with  the  histories  of  Francis  Parkman,  especially 
his  "Pioneers  of  New  France,"  and  his  "Jesuits  in  North 
America."  It  is  certainly  worth  one's  while  to  read 
both  of  these  books.  But  it  is  equally  certain  that  it 
would  not  be  wise  to  place  them  in  the  hands  of  school 
children.  For,  although  Parkman  will  always  receive 
great  credit  for  his  scholarly  researches  and  for  his 
interesting  style  of  writing,  yet  his  well  known  anti- 
Catholic  prejudices  forbid  his  books  being  used  as 
manuals  for  students  of  history.  He  pays  many  en- 
thusiastic compliments  to  the  Society  of  Jesus  for  its 
remarkable  attainments,  but  it  would  seem  as  though 
the  ill-natured  devil  of  bigotry  which  lurked  ever  in 
the  background,  in  the  recesses  of  his  brilliant  mind, 
could  not  be  kept  in  check  by  his  better  nature,  his 
instinct  of  the  scholar,  but  it  continually  leaps  forth 
to  grasp  every  opportunity,  to  take  advantage  of  every 
opening,  to  cast  the  poisoned  dart  of  black  and  ugly 
religious  hatred  at  that  Order  whose  members  he  admits 


The  Jesuit  Relations  75 

to  be  heroes  and  saints.  Whenever  there  is  a  dispute 
among  the  witnesses  as  to  the  motives  which  actuated 
a  Jesuit,  he  seems  irresistably  impelled  to  believe  the 
worst.  Whenever  the  contemporaries  of  a  Jesuit 
differed  in  their  opinion  of  his  character,  as  in  the  case 
of  Father  Biard,  he  eagerly  sides  with  the  traducer 
and  defamer. 

Yet  his  writings  abound  in  expression  of  enthusiastic 
admiration  of  the  Society.  No  stronger  words  of  com- 
mendation could  be  used  than  the  opening  words  of  the 
second  chapter  of  his  "Jesuits  in  North  America,"  — 
"It  was  an  evil  day  for  new-born  Protestantism  when 
a  French  artilleryman  fired  the  shot  that  struck  down 
Ignatius  Loyola  in  the  breach  of  Pampeluna.  A  proud 
noble,  an  aspiring  soldier,  a  graceful  courtier,  an  ardent 
and  daring  gallant  was  metamorphosed  by  that  stroke 
into  the  zealot  whose  brain  engendered  and  brought 
forth  the  mighty  Society  of  Jesus." 

Francis  Parkman,  like  all  other  historians  who  write 
concerning  this  period  of  history  which  we  are  consider- 
ing, to  obtain  his  material  was  obliged  to  go  back  to 
the  writings  of  the  Jesuit  Fathers,  the  so-called  "Jesuit 
Relations."  These  are  the  sources,  the  fountain  heads. 
No  other  information  is  in  existence.  Indeed,  it  is 
no  exaggeration  to  say  that  the  "Relations"  are  of 
incalcuable  value  to  American  historians.  If  they  had 
never  been  written,  or  if  they  had  been  destroyed  before 
being  published,  that  interesting  and  important  period 
of  our  history  would  be  at  this  day  absolutely  a  closed 
book. 

The  historian,  Bancroft,  says:  "not  a  cape  was 
turned,  not  a  river  entered,  but  a  Jesuit  led  the  way." 
And  fortunately  for  history,  the  rules  of  the  Society 
required  every  Jesuit  missionary  to  write  a  daily  account 
of  his  doings  and  send  regular  reports  to  his  superior. 


76  The  Makers  of  Maine 

Annually,  between  the  years  1632  and  1673,  the  superiors 
made  up  a  narrative,  or  "Relation,"  which  they  for- 
warded to  the  Provincial  of  the  Order  in  France. 

It  should  be  remembered  that  the  writers  of  these 
"Relations"  were  men  of  trained  intellect,  acute  ob- 
servers, and  practised  in  the  art  of  writing.  They 
had  left  the  most  highly  civilized  country  of  their 
times  to  go  into  the  heart  of  the  American  wilderness 
and  win  to  the  Christian  faith  the  fiercest  savages 
known  to  history.  To  gain  these  savages  it  was  first 
necessary  to  know  them  intimately — their  speech, 
their  habits,  their  very  manner  of  thought 

The  style  of  the  narratives  is  always  simple  and 
direct.  Never  does  the  narrator  descend  to  self-glori- 
fication or  dwell  upon  the  details  of  his  continual  martyr- 
dom. We  gain  from  his  pages  a  vivid  picture  of  life 
in  the  primeval  forest  as  he  lived  it;  we  seem  to  see 
him  upon  the  long  canoe  journeys,  squatted  among 
his  dusky  companions  working  his  passage  at  the  paddles, 
and  carrying  cargoes  upon  the  trail.  We  see  him 
the  patient  butt  and  scorn  of  the  savage  camp,  some- 
times deserted  in  the  heart  of  the  wilderness  to  make 
his  way  alone  as  best  he  can.  We  find  him  in  some 
far-away  Indian  village  working  against  hope  to  save 
the  unbaptized,  facing  the  jealous  rage  of  his  rival,  the 
"medicine  man,"  and  at  last  meeting  the  martyr's 
end  with  the  fortitude  of  the  saint.  Then,  consider  that 
the  "Relations"  were  written  for  the  most  part  in 
Indian  camps  subject  to  every  conceivable  distraction. 
Myriads  of  mosquitos  tormented  the  writer,  he  was 
surrounded  by  squalor  and  filth,  his  ears  were  deafened 
by  the  shrieks  of  children,  the  scolding  of  squaws  and 
the  foul  talk  of  the  Indian  men.  Often  he  was  fatigued 
with  excessive  labor  and  lack  of  proper  food,  suffering 
from  wounds  and  disease,  mistreated  by  his  hosts  who 


The  Jesuit  Relations  77 

often  acted  more  like  jailors  than  hosts,  and  who  in 
their  ignorant  superstition  regarded  the  art  of  writing 
as  magic  which  might  bring  calamity  upon  the  camp. 

The  "Relations"  have  always  been  a  rare  collec- 
tion, highly  prized  by  collectors  of  books.  They  were 
published  in  France  under  the  direction  of  the  Provincial 
of  the  Order.  They  commence  with  Father  Le  Jeune's 
"Brieve  Relation  du  (1632);  and  after  that  a  duodecimo 
volume,  bound  in  vellum,  was  issued  annually  from  the 
press  of  Sebastien  Cramoisy,  Paris,  until  1673  when 
they  were  discontinued.  This  is  the  famous  and  very 
rare  Cramoisy  Edition  of  forty  volumes.  In  1858  the 
Canadian  government  reprinted  the  Cramoisy  in  three 
large  octavo  volumes;  these  also  are  now  rare.  Dr. 
John  G.  Shea,  author  of  the  History  of  the  Catholic 
Missions  among  the  Indian  Tribes  of  the  United  States, 
complied  by  Cramoisy  series  during  the  years  1857-1866, 
but  the  edition  was  limited  to  one  hundred  copies,  and 
it  is  now  difficult  to  obtain. 

Parkman  tells  his  readers  of  the  great  difficulties 
under  which  he  labored  in  getting  together  the  material 
for  his  own  histories  from  the  "Relations,"  for  many 
of  the  "Relations,"  he  says,  he  had  to  rely  upon  translated 
copies  made  for  him  in  Paris  and  Rouen.  He  deserves 
credit  for  his  labors,  but  if  he  had  been  content  to 
quote  from  the  "Relations,"  and  had  kept  his  personal 
point  of  view  and  his  religious  prejudices  out  of  sight, 
his  histories  would  have  greater  value. 

It  has  often  happened  in  the  history  of  Christianity 
that  the  propgaation  of  the  faith  would  have  suffered  a 
grievous  set-back  and  failed  temporarily,  in  spite  of 
the  energy  of  men,  had  it  not  been  for  the  piety  and 
self-sacrifice  of  women.  The  history  of  the  bringing 
of  the  Christian  faith  to  the  Indians  is  one  of  those 
examples.     The    name    of    Madame    de    Guercheville, 


78  The  Makers  of  Maine 

belongs  with  those  of  Biard,  Le  Jeune,  and  de  Brebeuf. 
If  it  had  not  been  for  her  energetic  efforts  in  raising 
money  to  defray  the  expenses  of  sending  the  first  Jesuits 
to  this  country,  the  conversion  of  the  Indians  would 
have  been  deferred  for  many  years. 

Madame  de  Guercheville  was  one  of  the  famous 
beauties  of  the  court  of  France,  she  was  also  one  of  the 
most  influential  women  in  France  and  a  devout  Catholic. 
It  was  she  who  fitted  out,  with  her  own  money  and  the 
money  that  she  raised  by  subscription,  the  ship  which 
carried  the  first  Jesuits  to  Acadia  and  Maine.  I  will 
quote  the  words  of  Father  Joseph  Jouvency  from  his 
"Initium  Canidicae  Missionis  et    Primi  Fructus:" 

"Already  was  the  undertaking  progressing  very 
favorably  when  Henry  IV.more  solicitous  for  religion  than 
for  commerce,  resolved,  in  the  year  1608,  to  introduce 
Christian  rites  into  this  part  of  the  New  World,  and  asked 
members  of  the  Society  to  undertake  this  Apostolic  enter- 
prise. Upon  being  informed  of  the  plan  of  the  King,  and 
ordered  to  choose  as  soon  as  possible  energetic  priests 
who  could  lay  solidly  the  foundation  of  so  great  a  work, 
Father  Coton,  the  confessor  of  the  King,  informed  the 
Commander  of  the  Society.  From  the  whole  number, 
not  only  of  youths  but  also  of  old  men,  who  sought 
this  laborious  duty,  there  were  chosen  Father  Peter 
Biard,  of  Grenoble,  a  professor  of  theology  in  the  College 
of  Lyons,  and  Father  Enemond  Masse,  of  Lyons.  The 
unforseen  death  of  the  King  delayed  this  auspicious 
enterprise,  and  diminished  the  enthusiasm  of  the  friends 
of  the  Society,  who  were  providing  a  ship  and  other 
necessaries  for  the  voyage.  But  the  pious  Coton, 
unconquered  by  adversity,  brought  in  the  authority 
of  the  queen,  in  order  that  he  might  overcome  the 
difficulties  in  his  way.  As  a  result,  the  time  was  set 
for  their  departure,  and  the  Fathers  hastened  to  Dieppe, 


The  Jesuit  Relations  79 

in  order  that  they  might  sail  thence  for  New  France. 
But,  behold,  suddenly  an  unexpected  obstacle.  Their 
ship  belonged  to  Poutrincourt,  a  French  nobleman; 
it  was,  however,  subject  to  the  control  of  two  Calvin- 
istic  merchants,  since  they  had  incurred  no  light  expense 
toward  providing  her  with  equipments.  As  soon  as 
they  heard  that  members  of  the  Society  were  to  be 
embarked  upon  her,  they  refused  to  allow  her  to  leave 
the  port.  The  authority  of  the  queen  was  invoked; 
her  commands  were  reiterated.  They  answered  that 
they  would  not  refuse  admission  to  any  other  sort  of 
priests,  but  that  they  were  unwilling  to  have  anything 
to  do  with  our  men.  When  Coton  saw  that  the  stub- 
bornness of  the  rascals  could  not  be  overcome,  he  ap- 
proached the  matter  by  another  way.  There  was  a 
lady  distinguished  not  less  for  piety  than  for  birth, 
Antoinette  de  Guercheville.  This  woman  was  as 
solicitous  for  the  interests  of  the  mission  as  for  her  own ; 
and  since  she  had  acquired  an  uncommon  influence 
among  many,  because  of  her  reputation  for  integrity, 
she  quickly  collected  a  large  sum  of  money,  by  means 
of  which  the  heretical  merchants  were  repaid  the  amount 
which  they  had  spent  in  equipping  the  ship,  so  although 
the  merchants  were  disappointed  and  unwilling,  the 
Fathers  were  admitted.  But  because  of  the  interven- 
ing delay,  they  did  not  sail  until  the  26th  of  January, 
when  the  storms  of  winter  caused  a  raging  sea.  On 
this  account  the  voyage  was  of  four  months  duration, 
although  ordinarily  of  two,  and  was  terrible  because  of 
disease  within  and  tempests  without." 

Thus  came  the  Jesuits  to  Maine.  The  adventure 
of  these  men,  together  with  Fr.  Biard's  own  comments 
on  them,  I  shall  relate  further  on. 


CHAPTER  XI 

father  blard  describes  his  voyage 
Across  the  Atlantic 

I  closed  the  last  Chapter  in  which  I  wrote  concerning 
the  embarking  of  the  first  Jesuits  at  Dieppe  for  the 
voyage  to  these  shores  in  January  1611,  with  a  quota- 
tion from  the  Relations  of  Rev.  Fr.  Jouvency,  S.  J., 
in  which  he  told  how  Madame  de  Guercheville  bought 
out  a  share  of  the  Huguenot  merchants  of  Dieppe  who 
had  refused  to  allow  Jesuits  to  sail  in  their  ships,  and 
made  a  present  of  it  to  the  Society  of  Jesus.  I  will 
commence  this  chapter  by  quoting  the  closing  words 
of  the  letter  of  Fr.  Biard  S.  J.  to  the  Very  Rev.  Claude 
Aquaviva,  General  of  the  Society  at  Rome,  written  on 
the  eve  of  his  departure  from  Dieppe: 

"So  now,  my  Very  Reverend  and  good  Father,  you 
see  how  entirely  the  malice  of  the  evil  one  and  of  his 
tools  has  been  turned  to  our  advantage.  At  first  we 
asked  only  a  little  corner  in  the  vessel  at  their  price. 
Now  we  are  masters  of  it.  We  were  going  into  a  dreary 
wilderness  without  much  hope  of  permanent  help;  and 
we  have  already  received  enough  to  begin  laying  the 
foundation.  We  were  to  enrich  the  heretics  by  a  portion 
of  our  alms;  and  now  they,  of  their  own  accord,  refuse  to 
profit  by  an  occasion  which  would  benefit  them.  But  I 
believe  a  great  source  of  their  grief  is  nothing  else  than 
the  triumph  of  the  Lord  Jesus;  and  may  heaven  grant 
that  he   always  triumph.     Amen." 

In   his  next  letter,    to  the   Rev.   Fr.   Christopher 


Father  Biard  Describes  His  Voyage        si 

Baltazar,  Provincial  of  the  Society  at  Paris,  Fr.  Biard 
relates  the  incidents  of  the  stormy  and  dangerous  pas- 
sage from  Dieppe  to  Port  Royal. 

It  is  wonderful  to  contemplate,  the  courage  and  daring 
of  these  early  explorers  and  navigators  and  priests. 
Reflect  that  the  vessels  in  which  Champlain,  De  Monts, 
Poutrincourt,  de  Biencourt,  and  the  Jesuits  crossed 
the  Atlantic  many  times,  by  what  we  call  the  northern 
course,  or  what  navigators  call  the  Great  Circle  Track, 
were  no  larger  than  Gloucester  fishing  boats,  little 
schooners  which  we  have  all  seen  tied  up  to  the  wharves 
in  Portland  or  anchored  at  Marblehead,  vessels  in  which 
we  would  hesitate  to  intrust  our  lives  for  a  voyage 
to  the  Banks  of  Newfoundland.  This  ship  in  which 
Frs.  Biard  and  Masse  came  over — "La  Grace  de  Dieu," 
was  so  small  and  so  deeply  laden  that  the  voyagers 
could  lean  over  the  sides  and  wash  their  hands  in  the 
sea. 

What  men  these  explorers  and  missionaries  were. 
Nor  were  they  less  remarkable  for  their  imagination 
and  foresight  than  for  their  courage  and  daring.  We 
take  much  credit  to  ourselves  that  we  have  such  wisdom 
and  foresight  that  we  will  expend  many  millions  to 
build  a  canal  across  the  Isthmus  of  Panama.  Consider 
for  a  moment  that  Samuel  de  Champlain,  three  hundred 
years  ago,  conceived  and  proposed  the  project  of  a 
ship  canal  across  Panama.  "By  such  a  route"  he  said, 
"the  voyage  would  be  shortened  by  more  than  1500 
leagues,  and  from  Panama  to  the  Strait  of  Magellan 
it  would  be  one  island." 

And  this  was  no  dream  of  Champlain's  based  on 
sailor's  tales,  like  some  of  his  stories  about  the  griffins 
with  the  heads  of  an  eagle  and  the  tails  of  an  alligator 
which  haunted  the  jungles  of  Mexico.  To  the  contrary, 
it  was  the  result  of  investigation  and  study  on  the  spot. 


82  The  Makers  of  Maine 

But  to  return  to  Father  Biard.  After  hair-breadth 
escapes  from  shipwreck  by  storm  and  by  collision  with 
icebergs,  they  came  to  the  Great  Banks.  Fr.  Biard  con- 
fesses frankly  and  naively  that  he  was  much  surprised 
that  the  banks  were  not  sand-banks  or  mud-banks  as 
he  thought  in  France,  but  great  sub-marine  plateaus 
thirty-five  and  forty  fathoms  deep.  He  says:  "On 
i'appelle  banc  parceque  c'est  la  premierement  oil  ven- 
ant  des  abismes  de  l'ocean  Ton  trouve  terre  avec  la 
sonde.  Or,  sur  le  bord  de  ce  grand  banc,  les  vagues 
sont  1 'ordinaire  fort  furieuses,  trois  ou  quatre  lieuses 
durant,  et  ces  trois  ou  quatre  lieues  on  appelle  les  Ac- 
ores."  Fr.  Biard's  idea  of  the  location  of  the 
Azores  is  rather  vague.  His  notions  of  geography 
might  seem  laughable  to  us;  but  if  we  should  reprint, 
with  these  tales  some  of  the  maps  drawn  by  Champlain 
of  the  regions  which  he  had  visited,  perhaps  Fr.  Biard 
would  be  the  more  readily  excused  for  having  a  con- 
fused idea  of  the  location  of  places  which  he  had  never 
before  visited. 

On  the  Feast  of  Pentecost,  a  very  significant  date, 
they  landed  at  Port  Royal.  They  found  there  a  settle- 
ment of  about  twenty  persons,  and  all  nearly  starved. 
Fr.  Biard  says:  "We  all  wept  at  this  meeting,  which 
seemed  almost  like  a  dream.  " 

As  I  have  mentioned,  the  secular  priest,  Fr.  Jesse 
Fleche,  whom  Poutrincourt  had  taken  with  him  to 
Port  Royal,  had  baptized  about  one  hundred  and 
forty-one  Indians,  without  proper  instruction.  Les- 
carbot,  whose  writings  always  give  one  the  feeling  that 
he  is  laughing  in  his  sleeve,  called  it  a  masterpiece 
("chef  d'ouevre.")  Fr.  Biard  expresses  regret  at  such 
unseemly  haste.  He  writes  that  as  regards  Christ, 
faith,  the  commandments  of  God,  prayer  and  the 
sacraments,  they  know  nothing,  nor  did  they  know  the 


Father  Biard  Describes  His  Voyage        83 

sign  of  the  cross  or  the  very  name  of  Christian.  "Itaque 
nunce  vulgo  sciscitantibus  nobis,"  he  says  in  his  letter 
to  the  General  of  the  Order  in  Rome,  January  31,  1612, 
"Christianus  es?  negat  optimus  quisque,  scire  se  quid 
rogetur.  Mutata  interrogatione  quaerentibus,  bapti- 
zatus  es?  annuit  vero  ac  propemodum  sese  jam  Nort- 
mannum  propuntiat."  (The  Indians  always  called 
the  French  Normans. ) 

Fr.  Biard,  although  regretting  the  haste  in  baptiz- 
ing Indians,  nevertheless  speaks  kindly  of  the  secular 
priest,  Fleche.  He  says  that  the  worthy  man  had 
shown  great  friendliness  to  the  Jesuits  and  thanked 
God  for  their  coming,  for  he  had  resolved  to  return  to 
France  at  the  first  opportunity,  and  was  now  free  to 
do  so. 

Lescarbot,  in  his  "Relation  Derniere"  gives  us  a 
list,  a  strange  sort  of  baptismal  registry  of  the  one  hun- 
dred and  forty  or  so  Indians  baptized  by  Fr.  Fleche  in 
one  year.  It  is  amusing  to  read  the  list  of  names  of 
the  great  ones  of  France  conferred  upon  the  savages. 
Membertou,  the  chief,  they  named  Henry,  after  the 
King.  His  wife  and  children  received  the  names  of 
of  the  Queen  of  France  and  the  royal  children.  Then 
follows  a  list  which  reads  like  a  catalogue  of  all  the 
noble  families  of  France.  Imagine  a  naked,  dirty  and 
bedaubed  savage  named — Monsieur  the  Prince  of  Con- 
de,  another,  Monsieur  the  Duke  de  Nevers,  another 
Monsieur  the  Prince  de  Joinville,  and  an  ugly  squaw  bear- 
ing the  names  of  Madame  the  Countess  de  Soissons, 
Madame,  the  Duchess  of  Guise,  and  so  on. 

Parkman,  in  his  "Jesuits  in  North  America"  com- 
ments at  considerable  length  and  with  poorly  suppres- 
sed glee  upon  the  fact  that  the  first  Jesuits  found  it 
impossible  to  convey  to  the  savage  mind  any  conception 
of  the  abstract  ideas  of  faith,  charity,  justice,  etc.,  and 


84  The  Makers  of  Maine 

plainly  wants  his  readers  to  infer  that  they  were  lacking 
in  common  sense  not  to  know  that  a  savage  people 
would  have  no  such  words  in  their  language,  because 
they  could  form   no  such  concepts  in  their  minds.     He 
holds  Father  Biard  up  to  ridicule  for  trying  to  find  in  the 
Indian    language    words    for     faith,    justice,    wisdom, 
charity,  Trinity.     To  give  to  his  readers  such  an  im- 
pression  is   quite   unfair.     The   Jesuit   understood   the 
limitations  of  the  Indian  mind  and  the  Indian  language. 
These  are  his  own  words  on  the  subject.     "It  is  true 
that    Monsieur    de    Biencourt,    who    understands    the 
savage  tongue  better  than  any  one  else  here,  is  rilled 
with  earnest  zeal,  and  every  day  takes  a  great  deal  of 
trouble  to  serve  as  our  interpreter.     But  somehow,  as 
soon  as  we  begin  to  talk  about  God,  he  feels  as  Moses 
did — his  mind  is  bewildered,  his  throat  dry,  his  tongue 
tied.     The  reason  for  this  is  that  the  savages  have  no 
definite    religion,    magistracy    or    government,    liberal 
or  mechanical  arts,  commercial  or  civil  life,  they  have 
consequently  no  words  to  describe  which  things  they 
have    never    seen    or    even    conceived.     Furthermore, 
rude  and  untutored  as  they  are,  all  their  conceptions 
are  limited   to   sensible   and   material    things;   there  is 
nothing  abstract,  internal,  spiritual  or  distinct."      Let- 
tre  au   R.   P.   Provincial  at  Paris,   Jan.  31,  1612.     He 
thinks  it  doubtful  if  they  even  have  any  word  for  "I 
believe," — "Enfin,    nous   en    sommes    la    encore    apres 
plusieurs    enquestes    et  travaux,    a   disputer    s'ils   ont 
aucune  parole  qui  corresponde    diroictement  a  ce  mot 
'Credo,'  je  croy." 

Could  any  statement  be  clearer?  And  is  there  any 
excuse  for  Parkman,  to  ingeniously  place  the  matter  in 
such  a  light  that  the  reader  would  inevitably  draw  the 
inference  that  the  Jesuits  seriously  tried  to  find  Indian 
words  corresponding  to  the  words  faith,  trinity,  etc? 


Father  Biard  Describes  His  Voyage        85 

Concerning  the  nature  of  the  red  man's  spiritual 
beliefs  before  he  began  to  feel  the  influence  of  Christian 
teaching  the  following  quotation  from  Father  Jouvency 
S.  J.,  although  it  conveys  no  really  new  information  to 
the  average  reader,  may  be  of  interest  as  proof  that  the 
Jesuits,  from  the  first,  understood  the  Indian  mind 
and  the  limitations  of  his  thought.  "There  is  among 
them  no  system  of  religion,  or  care  for  it.  They  honor 
a  deity  who  has  no  definite  character  or  regular  code  of 
worship.  They  perceive,  however,  through  the  twi- 
light, as  it  were,  that  some  deity  does  exist.  What 
each  boy  sees  in  his  dreams,  when  his  reason  begins  to 
develop,  is  to  him  thereafter  a  deity,  whether  it  be  a 
dog,  a  bear,  or  a  bird.  They  often  derive  their  principles 
of  life  and  action  from  dreams;  as,  for  example,  if  they 
dream  that  any  person  ought  to  be  killed,  they  do  not 
rest  until  they  have  caught  the  man  by  stealth  and 
slain  him.  It  is  wearisome  to  recount  the  tales  which  they 
invent  concerning  the  creation  of  the  world.  Soothsayers 
and  worthless  quacks  fill  with  these  the  idle  and 
greedy  ears  of  the  people  in  order  that  they  acquire 
an  impious  gain.  They  call  some  divinity,  who  is  the 
author  of  evil  "Manitou"  and  fear  him  exceedingly. 
Beyond  doubt  it  is  the  enemy  of  the  human  race,  who 
extorts  from  some  people  divine  honors  and  sacrifice. 
Concerning  the  nature  of  spirits,  they  go  none  the  less 
astray.  They  make  them  corporeal  images  which 
require  food  and  drink.  They  believe  that  the  appointed 
place  for  souls,  to  which  after  death  they  are  to  retire, 
is  in  the  direction  of  the  setting  sun,  and  there  they 
are  to  enjoy  feasting,  hunting  and  dancing;  for  these 
pleasures  are  held  in  the  highest  repute  among  them." 

Father  Biard  soon  decided  that  the  work  of  con- 
verting the  adult  Indians  must  proceed  slowly ;  that  above 
all  it  was  necessary  that  he  himself  and    his  co-workers 


86  The  Makers  of  Maine 

must  learn  the  language  thoroughly  first  and  then  he 
must  depend  upon  good  fortune,  or  the  act  of  God,  for 
favorable  opportunities  to  make  impressions,  as  for 
instance,  when  an  Indian  should  fall  dangerously  ill 
and  the  native  "medicine  man"  had  failed  to  cure  him. 
But  in  the  meantime,  the  wise  Father  did  not  fail  to 
work  among  the  children  and  within  the  period  of  the 
first  year  here  he  was  able  to  write  that  it  comforted 
him  to  see  those  little  savages,  though  not  yet  Christ- 
ians, yet  willingly,  when  they  are  here  carrying  the  cross 
marching  in  good  order  in  the  processions  and  funerals 
which  occurred.  Thus,  as  he  said,  they  became  accus- 
tomed to  act  as  Christians,  so  that  in  time  they  became 
such  in  reality. 

In  October  of  the  year  1611  Father  Biard  and 
Monsieur  de  Biencourt,  with  a  company  of  men  made 
a  journey  to  the  rivers  St.  John,  St.  Croix,  and  Penobscot 
(called  then  Pentagoct).  Their  object  was  to  get  news 
of  what  the  English  were  doing  in  these  parts,  and 
Biard's  purpose  was  to  further  the  interests  of  his 
mission.  While  on  the  St.  .  John  River,  Father 
Biard  saw  for  the  first  time,  the  Northern  Lights. 
Twilight  had  ended  and  the  stars  had  begun  to  appear 
when  suddenly  toward  the  north  a  part  of  the  heavens 
became  blood-red,  and  this  light  spreading  little  by 
little,  in  vivid  flashes,  moved  directly  over  the  Indian 
settlement  and  there  stopped.  The  red  glow  was  so 
brilliant  that  the  whole  river  was  tinged  and  made  lu- 
minous by  it.  The  phenomenon  appeared  and  disap- 
peared in  periods  of  eight  minutes.  The  French  con- 
sidered the  display  prophetic,  and  the  Indians  declared 
that  it  meant  war. 

Arrived  at  the  Kennebec  they  learned  that  Captain 
Platrier  of  the  French  ship  Honfleur,  had  been  taken 
prisoner  by  two  English  ships  and  his  release  had  only 


Father  Biard  Describes  His  Voyage        87 

been  effected  by  means  of  presents  which  amounted  to 
ransom.  Biencourt  instructed  Captain  Platrier  and 
his  people  that  they  must  oppose  the  usurpation  of  the 
English.  "For,  he  said,  "It  is  well  known  to  all,  that 
the  Great  Henry,  may  God  give  him  absolution,  in 
accordance  with  the  right  acquired  by  his  predecessors 
and  by  himself,  gave  to  Mons.  de  Monts,  in  the  year 
1604,  all  this  region  from  the  40th  to  the  46th  parallel 
of  latitude.  Since  this  donation,  the  said  Seigneur  de 
Monts,  himself  and  through  Monsieur  de  Poutrincourt, 
my  very  honored  Father,  his  lieutenant,  and  through 
others,  has  frequently  taken  actual  possession  of  all 
the  country;  and  this,  three  or  four  years  before  the 
English  had  ever  frequented  it,  or  before  anything 
had  ever  been  heard  of  these  claims  of  theirs." 

They  inspected  the  English  fort  at  the  mouth  of 
the  Kennebec  which  had  been  abandoned,  and  then 
sailed  up  the  river.  They  paid  a  visit  to  Meteournite, 
Chief  of  the  Armouchiquois  (called  by  the  English  the 
Massachussetts. )  The  chief  received  them  in  his 
royal  regalia.  Father  Biard  made  presents  of  crosses  to 
the  Indians.  They  seemed  to  be  much  pleased  with 
his  visit  and  brought  their  children  to  him  for  his  bless- 
ing. 

Biencourt  erected  a  cross,  bearing  the  arms  of 
France  on  the  spot  where  the  English  had  settled  in 
1608  and  which  they  had  abandoned.  Then  the  com- 
pany sailed  back  to  Port  Royal.  Father  Biard  writes  that 
he  was  very  glad  to  be  back  among  these  our  friendly 
Indians  again,  "for,"  he  says,  "among  these  we  are  no 
more  obliged  to  be  on  our  guard  than  among  our  own 
servants;  and  thank  God  we  have  never  yet  been  de- 
ceived by  them." 

From  then  till  he  learns  to  speak  the  native  lan- 
guages, he  writes  to  his  superior,  his  daily  occupations- 


88  The  Makers  of  Maine 

are,  to  say  Mass,  to  solemnly  sing  it  Sundays  and  holi- 
days, together  with  vespers,  and  frequently  the  pro- 
cession, to  offer  public  prayers  morning  and  evening,  to 
exhort,  console,  administer  the  sacraments  and  bury  the 
dead.  He  chronicles  one  important  and  interesting 
event  in  history.  I  will  quote  his  own  words:  "If 
the  ground  of  this  New  France  had  feeling,  as  the  poets 
pretend  their  goddess  Tellus  had,  doubtless  it  would 
have  experienced  an  altogether  novel  sensaion  of  joy 
this  year,  for,  thank  God,  having  had  very  successful 
crops  from  the  little  land  that  we  tilled,  we  made  from  the 
harvest  some  hosts,  and  offered  them  to  God.  These 
are,  as  we  believe,  the  first  hosts  which  have  been  made 
from  the  wheat  of  this  land."  Lettre  au  R.  P.  Provin- 
cial a  Paris  31  Janvier  1612. 


CHAPTER  XII 
Various  Historical  Authorities  Compared 

It  is  related  that  the  prayer  of  the  founder  of  the 
Society  of  Jesus  was  that  the  order  and  its  members 
might  always  be  persecuted  by  the  World.  Whether 
this  tradition  be  true  or  not,  it  is  indisputable  that  the 
Order  and  most  of  its  eminent  members  have  been 
continuously  and  systematically  persecuted,  vilified 
and  defamed.  It  is  only  within  quite  recent 
times  that  writers  of  American  history  have  begun  to 
give  to  the  Jesuits  credit  for  their  achievements  as  the 
pioneers  of  civilization  and  Christianity  in  this  country. 
One  can  go  farther  and  say  that  it  is  only  within  the  last 
fifty  years  that  writers  have  ceased  to  misrepresent 
and  falsify  the  truths  of  history  for  the  base  purpose 
of  defaming  and  traducing  the  Jesuit  Order  and  the 
work  of  its  members.  In  the  records  of  the  Maine 
Historical  Society,  no  longer  ago  than  1857,  we  find 
in  Volume  V  of  the  Collections  of  the  Maine  Historical 
Society,  page  175,  the  following  argument  to  excuse  the 
fact  that  the  record  of  Episcopalian  Maine  as  compared 
with  Puritan  Massachusetts  is  a  blank. 

"The  French,  not  less  mercenary,  but  more  crafty, 
early  won  the  savage  heart,  and  turned  it  against  the 
English,  infused  with  the  animosity  of  religion.  The 
Jesuit  did  not  carry  civilization  to  the  Indian,  for  he 
adopted  the  life  of  the  savage;  not  the  gospel,  for  he 
supplanted  the  pow-wow;  the  new  superstitions  were 
scarcely  better  than  the  old  diabolisms;  it  was  almost 


90  The  Makers  of  Maine 

an  apostasy;  he  did  not  "preach  the  gospel,"  but  de- 
based it  to  a  few  manipulations.  Father  Du  Moine 
revisiting  the  Iroquois  in  the  summer  of  1653,  says 
that  he  "baptized  little  skeletons,  who  awaited,  per- 
haps only  this  drop  of  the  precious  blood  of  Jesus 
Christ;"  and  the  natives,  with  superstitious  awe, 
thought  that  he,  like  their  own  wizards,  "had  to  do  with 
the  devil."  Such  was  the  Christian  faith  the  poor 
savage  gained  from  this  zealous  priesthood.  The 
Indian  was  better  than  his  teacher.  By  the  superiority 
of  civilization  the  Jesuit  became  the  head  of  the  tribe. 
Of  implicit  faith,  disciplined  to  self-negation  in  the 
school  of  Loyola,  the  progeny  of  the  Inquisition,  and 
envenomed  with  its  deadly  hatred,  unscrupulous  mas- 
ters of  intrigue,  these  men  of  France,  instigated  the 
savage  to  hostilities  to  the  English  heretics,  whom 
they  represented  as  the  enemies  of  the  true  God.  They 
waked  the  deadly  warhoop,  incited  the  stealthy  Indian 
to  fire  the  planter's  solitary  cabin  with  the  midnight 
torch  and  scatter  the  brains  of  the  helpless  inmates 
with  the  tomahawk,  and  at  their  feet  were  laid  the 
bloody  trophies  of  the  scalping  knife.  The  promised 
boon  of  these  ghastly  deeds  was  Heaven."  (Collection 
of  the  Maine  Historical  Society,  Volume  V.  Subject, 
Ancient  Pemaquid.)  It  seems  now  to  us  impossible 
of  belief  that  a  few  short  years  ago  such  awful,  ghastly 
falsehoods  could  be  written  as  history.  Yet,  to  this 
day,  such  history  is  being  taught  to  children. 

We  know  that  the  best  authority  for  the  writer  of 
history  who  treats  of  the  French  voyages,  explorations, 
and  settlements  in  Acadia  is  to  be  found  in  the  "Rela- 
tions of  the  Jesuits,"  and  the  history  written  by  Cham- 
plain,  and  Lescarbot's  history;  yet  such  is  the  perver- 
sity of  human  nature,  when  one's  prejudices  and  prior 
convictions  are  concerned,  that  we  find  some  historians 


Various  Historical  Authorities  91 

deliberately  misstating  the  facts  in  total  disregard  of 
the  writings  of  the  Jesuits,  and  the  writings  of  Cham- 
pi  ain  and  Lescarbot;  and  others  again  taking  Lescar- 
bot  only  as  authority  for  certain  of  their  statements, 
in  preference  to  the  Jesuits  and  Champlain,  whenever 
Lescarbot  treats  events  from  a  different  viewpoint  to 
that  of  the  others,  and  especially,  since  it  is  the  fact,  as  we 
well  knew,  that  Lescarbot  was  bitterly  prejudiced 
against  the  Jesuits,  and,  as  we  have  good  reason  to  be- 
lieve, was  a  Catholic  for  political  reasons  only,  and  at 
heart  really  a  Calvinist. 

Lescarbot,  in  his  "Relation  Derniere"  gives  his  version 
of  the  Jesuits'  engagement  to  come  to  New  France,  in 
in  these  words:  "When  he  (Biencourt)  was  presented 
to  the  Queen,  she  was  wonderfully  pleased  to  hear  about 
the  conversions  of  several  savages,  who  had  been 
baptized  before  the  departure  of  Sieur  de  Sainct  Just, 
an  account  of  which  I  published  and  presented  to  her 
Majesty.  There  upon  the  Jesuits  offered  themselves  to 
aid  in  the  work.  The  Queen  favored  the  plan  and  re- 
commended them.  I  should  have  been  glad,  if  before 
their  departure  someone  had  suggested  to  her 
Majesty  a  thing  which  she  would  willingly  have  done, 
namely,  to  send  some  presents  of  food  and  clothes  to 
these  neophytes  and  new  Christians,  who  bear  the 
names  of  the  dead  King,  of  the  Queen  Regent,  and  of 
my  Lords  and  Ladies,  the  children  of  France.  But 
everyone  looks  out  for  his  own  interests.  Sieur  de 
Sainct  Just,  after  his  report  had  been  made,  meant  to 
obtain  protection  for  the  beaver  trade,  believing  that 
considerations  of  a  religious  nature  would  easily  secure 
this  for  him.  However,  he  could  not  obtain  it.  And 
seeing  that  the  affair  was  dragging  on,  and  that  he 
must  go  and  relieve  his  father,  having  been  ordered  to 
so  arrange  affairs  as  to  be  back  in  four  months,  he  took 


93  The  Makers  of  Maine 

leave  of  the  Queen,  who  sent  with  him  two  Jesuits  for 
the  conversion  of  the  savage  tribes  over  there.  But 
as  Sieur  de  Poutrincourt  had  taken  an  able  man  at 
his  departure,  it  seems  to  me  that  these  men  (who  can 
be  more  useful  at  home)  were  in  too  much  of  a  hurry 
for  the  best  interests  of  the  Sieur;  because  the  delay, 
which  took  place  on  their  account,  was  very  detrimental 
to  him  and  caused  a  dissolution  of  his  partnership.  In 
such  undertakings  the  State  must  be  founded  first, 
without  which  the  Church  cannot  exist,  as  I  have  said 
before." 

In  another  part  of  his  writings  he  speaks  of  Father 
Fleche's  baptising  one  hundred  and  forty-one  Indians 
in  less  than  a  year  as  a  "chef  d'oeuvre."  In  the  above 
quotation  he  says  that  the  Queen  should  have  been 
asked  to  send  food  and  clothing  to  these  "neophytes 
and  new  Christians,"  Doubtless  if  he  had  been  writing 
in  English  and  was  familiar  with  modern  slang,  he 
would  have  called  them  "near-Christians."  His  dis- 
like of  the  Jesuits  and  his  animosity  did  not  soften  with 
the  passing  of  time;  but  after  he  left  Port  Royal  and 
returned  to  France,  there  was  written  and  published  in 
Paris  a  controversial  pamphlet  under  the  title  of  "Fac- 
tum du  Proces  entre  Jean  de  Biencourt  et  les  Peres 
Biard  et  Masse,  Jesuites."  This  publication  was 
anonymous,  but  its  authorship  was  generally  ascribed 
to  Lescarbot,  and  it  seems  that  the  Jesuits,  and  par- 
ticularly Father  Biard,  were  satisfied  that  Lescarbot  was 
the  writer. 

From  the  foregoing,  we  get  the  ideas  and  opinions 
of  Lescarbot  on  the  subject  of  the  coming  of  the  Jesuits. 
A  little  farther  on  I  will  quote  from  Champlain's  clear 
and  interesting  account;  so  that  the  reader  may  finally 
see  for  himself  what  are  the  true  facts  as  proven  from 
the    great    original    historical    authorities.         He    may 


Various  Historical  Authorities  Compared  93 

then  know  what  authority,  or  rather,  lack  of  authority, 
there  is  for  the  treatment  accorded  by  the  great  majority 
of  English  writing  historians  to  the  subject  of  the 
Jesuits  in  America. 

Even  Bancroft,  fair  as  he  wished  to  be,  disregards 
the  authority  of  the  "Relations  of  the  Jesuits."  As 
an  example  of  the  historians  of  lesser  note,  what  we  might 
call  the  minor  historians,  let  us  consider  the  "History 
of  Acadia,"  written  by  James  Hannay  in  1879.  This 
book  on  the  whole  is  very  interesting  reading,  and  it 
is  a  useful  contribution  to  the  historical  works  of  the 
Province  of  Nova  Scotia.  In  so  far  as  the  histories 
of  Nova  Scotia  treat  of  the  early  days  of  Acadia,  they 
are  interesting  to  us  who  are  dealing  with  that  period 
as  a  part  of  the  early  history  of  Maine. 

Hannay  writes  of  the  trouble  between  Poutrin- 
court  and  his  son,  Biencourt,  on  the  one  hand,  and  the 
Jesuit  Fathers,  Biard  and  Masse,  on  the  other,  including 
the  part  taken  by  Madame  de  Guercheville  in  the 
active  events  of  this  time.  He  says:  "As  the  year 
closed  (at  Port  Royal)  their  prospects  looked  gloomy 
enough;  but  relief  speedily  came,  for  on  the  23rd  of 
January,  1612,  a  vessel  arrived  with  supplies.  This 
vessel  had  been  sent  in  pursuance  of  an  agreement 
which  Poutrincourt  and  Robin  had  made  with  Madame 
de  Guercheville,  who  had  already  exerted  herself  so 
strenuously  to  promote  the  mission  of  the  Jesuits. 
She  advanced  a  thousand  crowns  for  supplies,  but 
Poutrincourt  soon  discovered  that  he  had  called  in  an 
ally  who  would  fain  become  his  master.  This  ambi- 
tious women  had  indeed  formed  the  design  of  establishing 
in  Acadia  a  sort  of  spiritual  despotism,  of  which  the 
members  of  the  Order  of  Jesus  should  be  the  rulers 
and  she  the  patroness.  To  carry  out  this  plan,  it  might 
be  necessary  to  disposses  Poutrincourt,  or,  at  all  events, 


94  The  Makers  of  Maine 

to  obtain  possession  of  the  rest  of  Acadia.  She  had 
abundance  of  influence  at  court,  and  the  Queen  and 
her  adviser,  Concini,  held  views  similar  to  her  own. 
She  quickly  proceeded  to  put  her  plans  into  operation. 
Finding  that  the  whole  of  Acadia,  except  Port  Royal, 
belonged  to  De  Monts,  she  obtained  from  him  a  release 
of  his  rights,  and  immediately  obtained  a  grant  of  it 
from  the  King  himself.  She  did  not  doubt  that  Pou 
trincourt's  necessities,  and  the  burden  of  the  charge, 
which  the  Jesuit  mission  inflicted  on  the  trade  of  the 
colony,  would  speedily  compel  him  to  abandon  Port 
Royal  to  her  also.  He  did  not  purpose  at  that  time 
to  return  to  Port  Royal,  but  put  the  vessel,  which  he 
sent  with  supplies,  in  charge  of  one  Simon  Imbert, 
who  had  been  a  long  time  his  servant,  and  in  whom 
he  had  entire  confidence.  Madame  de  Guercheville, 
with  equal  forethought  sent  out  another  Jesuit,  named 
Gilbert  du  Thet,  who  went  in  the  vessel,  ostensibly 
as  a  passenger,  but  in  reality  as  a  spy  upon  Imbert, 
and  to  look  after  her  interests."  (Page  95,  Hannay's 
History  of  Acadia.) 

There  we  see  the  effect  of  constitutional  prejudices 
which  blind  the  historian  to  the  truth,  and  drive  him 
to  draw  inferences  which  the  facts  do  not  warrant, 
and  then  to  state  his  inferences  as  sober  facts  of  history 
which  become,  to  the  unsuspecting  reader,  in  very 
truth  facts  of  history.  Where  could  this  historian 
find  authority  for  his  statement  of  fact  that  Madame 
de  Guercheville  had  formed  the  design  of  establishing 
in  Acadia  a  "spiritual  despotism?" 

We  know  what  Father  Biard  says  about  this  matter 
in  his  Relations,  but  now  let  us  see  what  the  only  other 
writer,  who  has  any  claim  to  be  regarded  as  original 
authority,  has  to  say.  Samuel  de  Champlain  says: 
"The  Reverend  Father  Christofle  Balthazar,  Provincial, 


Various  Historical  Authorities  Compared  95 

commissioned  the  Fathers  Pierre  Biard  and  Ennemond 
Masse  to  go  with  Sieur  de  Biencourt.  The  King, 
Louis  the  Just,  caused  to  be  delivered  to  them  five 
hundred  crowns  promised  by  the  King,  his  father, 
and  several  rich  ornaments  given  by  Madame  de  Guer- 
cheville  and  Madame  de  Sourdis.  When  they  arrived 
at  Dieppe  there  was  some  discussion  among  the  Jesuit 
Fathers  and  the  merchants,  which  caused  the  Fathers 
to  retire  to  their  college  of  Eu.  (We  know  what  it  was, — 
that  the  Huguenot  merchants  utterly  refused  to  allow  the 
Jesuit  Fathers  to  sail  in  the  vessel. ) 

"When  Madame  de  Guercheville  knew  this,  she  was 
very  indignant  that  the  tradesmen  had  been  so  pre- 
sumptuous as  to  have  offended  and  thwarted  these 
fathers,  and  said  that  they  ought  to  be  punished;  but 
their  only  chastisement  lay  in  their  not  being  admitted 
to  the  expedition.  And  knowing  that  the  equipment 
would  not  go  above  four  thousand  livres,  she  took  up 
a  collection  in  the  court,  and  by  this  kind  action  she  got 
this  sum,  with  which  she  paid  the  merchants  who  had 
troubled  these  Fathers  and  cut  them  off  from  all  associa- 
tion with  them;  and  with  the  rest  of  this  sum  and  other 
large  property,  she  established  a  fund  for  the  mainten- 
ance of  these  Fathers,  not  wishing  them  to  be  a  charge 
to  Sieur  de  Poutrincourt.  She  also  arranged  that 
the  profits  that  came  from  furs  and  fish,  which  the  ship 
should  bring  back,  should  not  revert  to  the  benefit  of  the 
associates  and  other  merchants,  but  should  go  back 
to  Canada,  in  the  possession  of  Sieur  Robin  and  Sieur 
de  Biencourt,  who  should  use  it  for  the  support  of  Port 
Royal  and  the  French  who  were  living  there. 

"In  reference  to  this  it  was  decided  and  ordained 
that  since  this  money  of  Madame  de  Guercheville, 
had  been  designed  for  the  benefit  of  Canada,  the  Jesuits 
should  take   part  in  the  profits  of  the  association  of 


96  The  Makers  ok  Maine 

Sieur  Robin  and  Sieur  de  Biencourt,  and  share  with 
them. 

"It  was  this  contract  of  partnership  that  spread 
about  so  many  rumors,  complaints  and  outcries  against 
the  Jesuit  Fathers,  who  in  that  and  everything  else 
are  justly  governed  according  to  God  and  to  reason  to  the 
shame  and  confusion  of  those  who  envy  and  malign  them. 

"On  January  26,  1611,  the  same  Fathers  embarked 
with  this  Sieur  de  Biencourt  whom  they  helped  with 
money  to  get  the  ship  off,  and  to  alleviate  the  great 
want  that  they  experienced  in  this  voyage;  since  in 
coasting  along  the  shores  they  stopped  and  sojourned 
in  several  places  before  arriving  at  Port  Royal,  which 
was  on  June  12th,  1611,  Whitsunday,  (as  we  have 
seen  before,  Marc  Lescarbot  fixes  the  date  more  nearly 
correct  as  May  22nd.)  And  during  this  voyage  these 
Fathers  had  a  great  scarcity  of  provisions  and  of  other 
things,  according  to  the  accounts  of  the  pilot,  David 
de  Bruges,  and  the  captain,  Jean  Daume,  both  of  them 
of  the  so-called  reformed  religion,  who  confessed  that 
they  found  these  good  Fathers  quite  different  from  what 
they  had  been  described. 

"As  Sieur  de  Poutrincourt  was  seeking  in  France 
every  means  of  aiding  his  son,  Madame  de  Guercheville, 
who  was  pious,  virtuous,  and  very  much  devoted  to 
the  conversion  of  the  savages,  having  already  collected 
some  funds,  communicated  with  him  in  regard  to  the 
matter,  and  said  that  she  would  very  gladly  join  the 
company,  and  that  she  would  send  some  Jesuit  Fathers 
with  him  for  the  aid  of  Canada.  The  contract  of 
partnership  was  approved,  this  lady  being  empowered  by 
her  husband,  Monsieur  de  Biencourt,  first  equery  of 
the  King  and  Governor  of  Paris. 

"By  that  contract  it  was  fixed  that  she  should 
at  this  time  give  a  thousand  crowns  for  the  cargo  of  the 


VARIOUS  HISTORICAL  AUTHORITIES  COMPARED     97 

ship,  provided  that  she  should  share  the  profit  that 
this  voyage  should  yield,  and  of  the  lands  that  the 
King  had  given  Sieur  de  Poutrincourt,  as  set  down  in 
the  original  of  the  contract.  This  Sieur  de  Poutrincourt 
reserved  for  himself  Port  Royal,  and  its  lands;  not  in- 
tending that  they  should  be  included  in  the  common 
stock  of  the  other  lordships,  capes,  harbors,  and  pro- 
vinces that  he  said  he  had  in  this  country  near  Port 
Royal.  This  lady  requested  him  to  produce  titles 
to  show  that  these  lordships  and  lands  belonged  to 
him  and  how  he  possessed  so  large  a  domain.  But  he 
excused  himself  by  saying  that  his  titles  and  papers 
were  in  New  France.  When  this  lady  heard  this, 
as  she  was  suspicious  of  Sieur  de  Poutrincourt  and 
wished  to  guard  herself  against  being  taken  by  surprise, 
she  made  a  contract  with  Sieur  de  Monts  that  he  should 
cede  back  to  her  all  the  rights,  deeds  and  claims  that 
he  had  or  ever  had  had  in  New  France  derived  from  the 
gift  made  him  by  the  late  Henry  the  Great.  Madame 
de  Guercheville  obtained  letters  from  his  Majesty, 
now  reigning,  in  which  the  gift  was  made  anew  to 
her  of  all  the  lands  in  New  France  from  the  Great 
River  as  far  as  Florida,  excepting  only  Port  Royal, 
which  was  what  Sieur  de  Poutrincourt  possessed  then, 
and  nothing  else. 

"This  lady  gave  money  to  the  Jesuit  Fathers  to 
put  into  the  hands  of  some  merchants  at  Dieppe,  but 
this  Sieur  de  Poutrincourt  inveigled  these  same  fathers 
into  giving  him  four  hundred  of  this  thousand  crowns. 
He  sent  in  charge  of  this  expedition  an  employee  of  his 
called  Simon  Imbert  Sandrier,  who  acquitted  himself 
rather  badly  in  the  management  of  this  equipped  and 
freighted  ship.  He  left  Dieppe  December  31st  in  the 
height  of  winter  and  reached  Port  Royal,  January  23rd, 
the  next  year,  1612." 


98  The  Makers  of  Maine 

Those  are  the  words  of  Samuel  de  Champlain, 
a  truthful  writer,  whose  veracity  in  matters  historical 
has  never  been  questioned  by  any  well  informed  histor- 
ian. If  the  writers  of  modern  times,  more  particularly, 
those  who  have  written  in  the  English  language,  are 
right  in  their  statements,  criticisms,  and  innuendos 
derogatory  to  the  Jesuits  and  to  Madame  de  Guerche- 
ville,  then  not  only  the  Relations  of  the  Jesuits,  that 
great  body  of  writings  acknowledged  to  be  the  very 
source  and  fountain  head  of  historical  data,  are  un- 
trustworthy, but  even  Samuel  de  Champlain  is  not  to 
be  trusted.  But  such  a  conclusion  is  unbelievable. 
,,  Therefore,  we  may  be  certain  that  Madame  de 
Guercheville,  who  occupies  the  unique  position  in  his- 
tory of  being  the  only  woman  possessed  of  sovereignty 
over  the  lands  of  the  New  World,  the  woman  who  was 
the  feudal  suzerain  of  a  great  fief,  was,  as  Champlain 
says,  a  pious  and  virtuous  woman,  much  devoted  to 
the  conversion  of  the  Indians;  and  that,  instead  of 
going  into  the  venture  for  gain,  she  was  actuated  by 
the  highest  of  motives,  and  at  a  great  personal  sacrifice. 
She  not  only  strained  her  own  resources,  but  had  to 
use  her  influence  with  her  court  friends  to  obtain  aid. 
It  is  also  quite  plain  that  de  Poutrincourt  had  planned 
to  cheat  the  lady  by  "doing"  her  out  of  her  money  and 
deceiving  her  as  to  the  lands  which  he  possessed  and  of 
which  he  would  make  her  a  partner  and  part  owner. 
It  was  only  by  her  own  shrewdness,  or  by  the  shrewd 
advice  of  some  one  who  knew  Poutrincourt  better  than 
she  did,  that  she  protected  her  interests  by  getting 
a  release  from  de  Monts  of  his  patent,  and  having  the 
release  confirmed  to  her  by  the  King.  Moreover, 
instead  of  the  Jesuit  Brother  Du  Thet  being  sent  along  on 
the  ship  as  a  spy,  as  our  English  writers  would  have  us 
believe,  du  Thet  was  as  much  an  infant  in  business  as 


Various  Historical  Authorities  Compared  99 

the  Fathers  Biard  and  Masse,  who  allowed  de  Pout- 
rincourt  to  "do"  them  out  of  four  hundred  crowns  of 
Madame  de  Guercheville's  money.  According  to 
Champlain,  the  boot  should  be  put  on  the  other  leg, 
for  it  was  the  worthy  Simon,  de  Poutrincourt's  "em- 
ployee," who  went  along,  in  the  capacity  of  "super- 
cargo" as  it  was  called  in  later  times,  armed  with  secret 
instiuctions  from  de  Poutrincourt  to  take  every  means 
of  getting  the  better  of  the  Jesuits  and  putting  them  in 
as  bad  and  false  a  light  as  possible. 

Whatever  may  be  said  against  Gilbert  du  Thet 
by  writers  who  are  prejudiced  against  the  Jesuits,  not 
one  of  them  has  ever  been  able  to  suppress  the  magi- 
ficent  fact  that  he  was  the  hero  of  the  short  but  bloody 
fight  thrust  upon  the  French  by  the  pirate  Argall  at 
St.  Sauveur,  that  he  fought  like  a  soldier-priest  of  the 
Crusading  times,  and  died  the  first  Jesuit  martyr  in  the 
New  World. 

To  sum  the  case  up,  we  have  the  testimony  of 
Champlain,  that  the  two  gentlemen  who  were  highest 
in  command  on  board  the  ship,  the  pilot,  David  de 
Bruges,  and  the  Captain,  Jean  Daume,  both  Huguenots, 
or  of  the  reformed  religion,  confessed  that  they  found 
the  good  fathers  quite  different  from  what  they  had 
been  told  to  expect. 

I  have  made  considerable  of  this  circumstance; 
indeed,  it  may  seem  to  the  reader  that  the  game  is  not 
worth  the  chase.  But  I  must  remind  you,  my  dear 
friend  reader,  you  who  have  felt  enough  interest  to 
follow  along  to  this  point,  that  this  period,  which  we 
are  considering,  is  one  of  the  most  important,  most 
vital  to  the  history  of  our  early  days,  of  all.  For  here 
we  come  to  the  threshold  of  a  great  and  momentous 
epoch.  The  coming  of  the  Jesuit  missionaries  marks 
the  beginning  of  a  new  period  of  history.     All  writers 


ioo  Thk  Makers  of  Maine 

of  history  agree  upon  that, — all  from  Bancroft  and 
Parkman  down  to  the  composer  of  the  smallest  school 
history.  All  agree  that  the  work  done  by  the  Jesuits 
throughout  this  region,  which  is  now  our  State  of  Maine, 
throughout  the  great  Dominion  of  Canada,  and 
throughout  the  broad  valley  of  the  Mississippi,  broad 
as  a  continent  itself,  was  wonderful,  romantic, 
and  of  lasting  effect.  And,  therefore,  it  follows  that 
if  the  first  steps  of  this  great  Society  of  Jesus,  the  first 
steps  boarding  the  vessel,  sailing  across  the  ocean, 
and  landing  upon  the  American  soil,  are  marked  with 
dishonesty,  deceit,  and  chicanery,  as  so  many  writers 
wish  us  to  believe,  then  a  cloud  of  suspicion  rests 
upon  the  Society  and  its  members  always  afterwards. 
So,  I  have  quoted  freely  from  those  contemporaneous 
writers  of  history  who  lived  at  the  time,  and  who  should 
know,  and  did  know  best,  to  prove  that  the  Jesuits, 
from  the  very  beginning,  from  their  first  step  aboard 
a  ship,  have  been  maligned  and  vilified.  Such  facts, 
taken  in  connection  with  so  many  others  of  like  kind, 
lead  one  to  believe  that  there  may  be  some  truth  in  the 
old  tradition  which  I  mentioned  in  the  beginning  of 
the  tale  of  the  Jesuits. 


CHAPTER  XIII 

Troubles  and  Disputes  at  Port  Royal 

Father  Biard's  acts  while  at  Port  Royal,  and  after- 
wards while  a  prisoner  in  the  hands  of  Captain  Argall 
aboard  ship  and  in  Virginia,  and  his  character  for  honor 
and  priestly  sanctity  have  been  the  subject  of  much  argu- 
ment and  dispute  among  historians.  Francis  Parkman, 
author  of  the  "Jesuits  in  North  America,"  accepts  and 
eagerly  swallows  all  the  evidences  against  the  Jesuit 
as  quite  conclusive  that  he  was  dishonorable,  deceitful 
and  crafty,  and  embodied  in  himself  all  the  fabulous 
worst  features  of  the  crafty,  unscrupulous  Society  of 
Jesus.  Everybody  who  reads  the  relations  of  this  Jes- 
uit forms  his  own  opionion  of  his  character,  and  the 
prior  convictions  and  prejudices  of  the  student  natural- 
ly enough  affect  seriously  the  opinion  that  he  forms. 

After  reading  the  Relations  of  Father  Biard  I  have, 
for  myself,  formed  the  opinion  that  Father  Biard  was  an 
honest  man,  a  man  of  honor,  a  priest  imbued  with  a  lofty 
realisation  of  the  great  burden  of  responsibility  which 
rested  upon  him  by  reason  of  his  calling;  but,  like  all 
of  us,  his  fellow  men,  he  was  human,  and  he  had  his 
weaknesses  and  faults.  I  believe  that  his  particular 
weakness  was  a  physical  cowardice;  that  he  was  physi- 
cally a  coward  and  had  a  mortal  fear  of  death  by  violence, 
and  that  this  fear  throws  light  upon  some  of  his  acts 
when  captured  by  the  English  and  carried  a  prisoner  to 
Virginia  and  England;  and  explains  what  might 
otherwise  be  thought  to  have  been  double-dealing  and 
treachery  toward  Biencourt. 


102  The  Makers  of  Maine 

There  was  never  any  good  feeling  and  friendliness 
between  Biencourt,  head  of  the  Port  Royal  colony, 
representing  the  secular  authority,  the  State,  in  the 
lands  of  New  France,  and  Father  Biard,  representing  the 
Church,  in  the  same  domain.  They  had  nothing  in 
common.  Biencourt  was  not  even  a  Catholic — if 
he  was  anything  he  was  a  Huguenot,  or  French  Calvin- 
ist.  But  of  all  things,  he  hated  the  Jesuits  and  feared 
the  growth  of  their  influence.  And  Father  Biard,  on  his 
part,  understood  the  motives  that  actuated  Biencourt 
and  his  father,  Poutrincourt,  in  founding  and  keeping 
alive  the  Port  Royal  colony.  And  moreover,  clearer- 
visioned  and  more  far  seeing  than  Biencourt,  he  per- 
ceived the  seeds  of  failure,  the  cause  of  decay  in  the 
mercenary  and  unpatriotic  motives  by  which  Biencourt 
and  his  companions  were  actuated.  Not  De  Monts, 
the  founder  and  first  leader  of  Port  Royal.  De  Monts 
was  a  high-minded,  patriotic  gentleman,  and  thought 
to  advance  the  glory  of  France  in  the  New  World.  But 
Poutrincourt,  who  held  Port  Royal  under  De  Monts, 
was  actuated  by  no  such  motives.  De  Monts  sank  a 
fortune  in  his  efforts  to  plant  the  flag  and  authority  of 
France  securely  in  this  part  of  the  world.  Poutrin- 
court, and  his  active,  able,  ambitious  son,  Biencourt, 
reckoned  to  found  a  fortune  in  these  lands. 

Father  Biard  sums  it  up  clearly  in  his  Relation  of  the 
year  1616,  in  the  Chapter  "Quel  Moyen  ily  peut  Auoir 
d 'aider  Ces  Nations  a  leur  Salut  Eternel."  These  are 
his  words:  "Now  ,  after  considering  the  whole  subject 
thoroughly,  the  result  of  all  these  opinions,  sentiments, 
experiments,  arguments  and  conjectures  of  the  wise 
can  hardly  be  otherwise  than  this:  namely,  that 
there  is  no  probability  of  ever  being  able  to  convert  or 
really  help  these  Nations  (the  Indians)  to  salvation, 
if  there  is  not  established  there  a  Christian  and  Catholic 


Troubles  and  Disputes  at  Port  Royal   103 

colony,  having  a  sufficiency  of  means  to  maintain  it, 
and  upon  which  all  the  countries  depend,  even  as  to 
provisions  and  temporal  needs.  Such  is  the  result  and 
conclusion  of  our  investigations.  Now  how  can  these 
colonists  and  emigrants  be  sheltered,  provided  for, 
and  kept  together  there?  This  is  not  the  place  to  go 
into  details  about  it  or  even  to  enumerate  the  chief 
points.  I  shall  only  suggest  that  it  is  great  folly  for 
small  companies  to  go  there,  who  picture  to  themselves 
Baronies,  and  I  know  not  what  great  fiefs  and  demesnes 
for  three  or  four  thousand  ecus,  for  example,  which  they 
will  have  to  sink  in  that  country.  It  would  be  still 
worse  if  this  foolish  idea  would  occur  to  people  who  flee 
from  the  ruin  of  their  families  in  France;  for  to  such 
covetous  people  it  invariably  happens,  not  that,  being 
one  eyed,  they  would  be  kings  among  the  blind,  but  that 
blind,  they  would  go  to  throw  themselves  into  a  wretched 
pit;  and  possibly  instead  of  a  Christian  stronghold, 
they  would  found  a  den  of  thieves,  a  nest  of  brigands, 
a  receptacle  of  parasites,  a  refuge  for  rogues,  a  hot- 
bed  of  scandal  and  all  wickedness." 

Father  Biard  hit  upon  one  of  the  reasons  why  the 
English  colonies  here  survived  and  finally  won  out 
over  the  French;  a  subject  which  I  shall  develop  later 
when  I  come  to  sum  up  what  I  have  called  the  philos- 
ophy of  the  history  of  Maine. 

As  an  example  of  the  petty  annoyances  to  which 
the  Jesuit  Fathers  were  subjected  by  Poutrincourt,  the 
head  of  the  civil  authority,  let  me  mention  the  following. 
I  have  already  spoken  of  the  great  difficulty  which  the 
Fathers  had  in  their  work  of  conversion,  by  reason  of 
their  ignorance,  at  this  early  day,  of  the  native  language, 
and  the  impossibility  of  finding  and  securing  the  services 
of  any  native  interpreter  who  had  enough  intelligence 
to  give  workable  equivalents  for  words  and     phrases 


104  The  Makers  of  Maine 

expressing  ideas  such  as  faith,  charity,  sorrow,  etc.  An 
expedient  presented  itself  by  which  it  appeared  they 
might  be  able  to  extricate  themselves  from  these  per- 
plexities and  obstacles.  There  was  a  young  man  by 
the  name  of  Du  Pont  who  had  come  over  from  France 
with  the  company  of  settlers,  and  had  got  himself 
into  bad  favor  with  Biencourt,  had  been  obliged  to 
leave  the  settlement  and  live  with  the  Indians.  This 
young  man  had  learned  to  speak  the  language  fluently. 
Father  Biard  thought  that  with  his  assistance  he  could 
prepare  a  little  catechism  of  Christian  instruction.  The 
priest  decided  to  go  in  search  of  Du  Pont  in  the  woods, 
and  cross  the  "French  Bay,"  now  the  Bay  of  Fundy, 
in  a  canoe,  rather  than  not  to  avail  himself  of  this  chance 
of  doing  good  to  the  Indians.  But  the  Sieur  de  Bien- 
court (so  the  Father  writes)  was  very  much  opposed 
to  this  decision,  taking  great  offense  at  the  mere  propo- 
sal of  it,  and  absolutely  refused  to  allow  it.  Father 
Biard  was  obliged  to  yield  to  him,  to  have  peace. 

In  the  next  chapter  I  shall  narrate  one  more  event 
of  importance  which  happened  to  the  Jesuits  before 
their  labors  among  the  Indians  ceased  for  the  time, 
an  interesting  occurence  because  it  is  in  the  nature  of 
a  miracle,  and  was  so  regarded  by  Father  Biard ;  at  least 
if  it  was  not  actually  a  miracle,  it  partook  of  the  mirac- 
ulous. As  I  am  not  a  theologian,  I  do  not  pretend  to 
understand  the  theological  distinctions  between  miracles 
actually  so,  and  events  of  a  supernatural  character 
which  are  not  deemed  absolute  miracles;  therefore 
I  will  relate  the  occurrence  without  comment  in  the 
next  chapter;  before  closing  the  history  of  this  first 
Jesuit  mission  upon  the  soil  of  what  is  now  the 
State  of  Maine. 


CHAPTER  XIV 
The  Death  of  Sagamore  Membertou 

In  the  last  chapter  I  promised  to  relate  an  event  of 
a  miraculous  nature  which  happened  during  the  sojourn 
of  the  Jesuits,  Father  Biard  and  Father  Masse,  at  Port 
Royal.  Perhaps,  to  call  it  a  miracle  is  an  unfortunate  use 
of  words,  for,  I  presume  that  theologians  would  quickly 
distinguish  the  occurence  from  what  is  properly  known 
as  a  miracle.  Rather,  let  us  say  that  the  event  furnishes 
an  evidence  of  the  supernatural  effect,  sometimes 
made  evident  to  the  senses  of  men,  of  the  administering 
of  a  sacrament. 

In  the  year  1611,  the  great  Sagamore  Membertou, 
for  many  years  chief  of  a  large  and  powerful  tribe, 
died  at  an  advanced  age,  after  having  been  converted 
and  received  into  the  Church.  His  was  probably  the 
only  sincere  conversion  worked  by  the  secular  priest, 
Jesse  Fleche  who  preceded  the  Jesuits.  Father  Biard 
found  this  Indian  already  a  Christian  when  he  arrived  at 
Port  Royal.  Perhaps,  by  reason  of  his  eminent  and  ex- 
ceptional intelligence,  he  was  the  more  easily  brought 
to  see  the  superior  reasonableness  of  the  Christian 
doctrine  to  the  senseless  and  childish  myths  which 
the  savages  believed  and  which  later  Protestant  writers 
have  ignorantly  sought  to  dignify  by  the  name  of  the 
"Indian  Religion,"  which  was  no  religion  at  all.  Perhaps 
it  was  the  act  of  God,  to  make  this  Sagamore  serve  as 
a  striking  example  to  his  savage  followers. 

These  are  the  words  of  Father  Biard,  describing  the 


106  The  Makers  of  Maine 

last  days  of  Membertou:  "This  good  savage,  having 
confessed  and  received  Extreme  Unction,  told  Sieur  de 
Biencourt  that  he  wished  to  be  buried  with  his  fathers 
and  ancestors.  Father  Biard  was  very  much  opposed 
to  this  proposition,  admonishing  him  that  it  was  not 
lawful  for  him,  a  Christian,  to  wish  to  be  buried  with 
heathens,  who  were  condemned;  especially  as  in  doing 
so  he  would  cause  great  scandal,  inasmuch  as,  when  the 
savages  heard  and  saw  that  he  had  not  wanted  to  be 
buried  with  us,  they  would  readily  entertain  the  suspi- 
cion that  he  had  been  a  Christian  only  in  appearance. 
In  any  case  that  all  this  would  always  seem  like 
contempt  for  Christian  burial,  etc.  Sieur  de  Biencourt 
replied  for  Membertou  that  they  would  have  the  burial 
place  blessed  and  that  such  a  promise  had  been  made  to 
Membertou.  Father  Biard  answered  that  that  would  not 
do;  for,  in  order  to  bless  the  said  place,  they  would  have 
to  disinter  the  pagans  who  were  buried  there,  which 
would  cause  them  to  be  abominated  by  all  the  savages, 
and  would  savor  too  much  of  impiety.  These  reasons 
did  not  avail,  because  the  sick  man,  believing  that 
Sieur  de  Biencourt  was  on  his  side,  persisted  in  his 
determination.  In  order  to  make  them  understand 
that  this  affair  was  of  greater  importance  than  they 
thought,  Father  Biard  informed  them  that  the  inter- 
ment would  take  place  without  him,  and  he  wanted 
them  to  understand  it  from  that  time  on,  protesting 
that  he  would  have  nothing  to  do  with  any  such  coun- 
sels and  decisions,  and  thereupon  he  departed.  How- 
ever, so  the  sick  man  would  not  think  that  what  was 
mere  duty  and  charity  was  anger,  he  returned  in 
less  than  an  hour  afterwards,  and  began  again  to  wait 
upon  him  as  before.  God  looked  kindly  upon  his  good 
intentions,  for  the  next  morning  the  savage,  of  his  own 
free  will,  changed  his  mind,  and  said  that  he  wanted  to 


The  Death  of  Sagamore  Membertou     107 

be  buried  in  the  common  burying  ground  of  the  Christ- 
ians, to  prove  his  faith  to  all,  and  to  be  able  to  partici- 
pate in  the  prayers  which  he  had  there  seen  offered. 
He  died  a  very  good  Christian,  and  his  death  greatly 
saddened  the  Jesuits,  for  they  loved  him,  and 
were  loved  by  him  in  return.  He  had  often  said  to 
them:  'Learn  our  language  quickly,  for  when  you 
have  learned  it,  you  will  teach  me,  and  when  I  am  taught 
I  will  become  a  preacher  like  you,  and  we  will  convert 
the  whole  country.'  The  savages  have  no  recollection 
of  ever  having  had  a  greater  or  more  powerful  Sagamore. 
Speaking  of  the  matter  of  learning  the  Indian 
language,  and  I  have  already  mentioned  this  matter 
before,  I  desire  to  quote  the  words  of  Father  Biard 
on  this  point,  as  they  graphically  describe  the  immense 
difficulties  under  which  a  missionary,  to  any  savage 
and  barbarous  people,  labors.  "It  would  be 
hard       to       understand  the       great        difficulties 

which  they  here  encountered;  the  principal  one  being, 
that  they  had  neither  teacher  nor  interpreter.  To 
be  sure  Sieur  de  Biencourt,  and  some  of  the  others,  knew 
a  little  of  it  very  well,  enough  for  trade  and  ordinary 
affairs,  but  when  there  was  a  question  of  speaking 
about  God  and  religious  matters,  there  was  the  diffi- 
culty, there,  the  'not  understand.'  Therefore,  they 
were  obliged  to  learn  the  language  by  themselves,  inquir- 
ing of  the  savages  how  they  called  each  thing.  And 
the  task  was  not  so  very  wearisome  as  long  as  what 
was  asked  could  be  touched  or  seen;  a  stone,  a  river, 
a  house,  to  strike,  to  jump,  to  laugh,  to  sit  down.  But 
when  it  came  to  internal  and  spiritual  acts,  which  cannot 
be  demonstrated  to  the  senses,  and  in  regard  to  words 
which  are  called  abstract  and  universal,  such  as,  to 
believe,  to  doubt,  to  hope,  to  discourse,  to  apprehend, 
an  animal,  a  body,  a  substance,  a  spirit,  virtue,  vice, 


108  The  Makers  of  Maine 

sin,  reason,  justice,  etc.;  for  these  things  they  had  to 
labor  and  sweat,  in  these  were  the  pains  of  travail. 
They  did  not  know  by  what  route  to  reach  them,  al- 
though they  tried  more  than  a  hundred;  there  were  no 
gestures  which  would  sufficiently  express  their  ideas, 
not  if  they  would  use  ten  thousand  of  them.  Mean- 
while our  gentlemen  savages,  to  pass  away  the  time, 
made  sport  of  their  pupils,  always  telling  them  a  lot 
of  nonsense.  And  yet  if  you  wanted  to  take  advantage 
of  this  fun,  if  you  had  your  paper  and  pencil  ready  to 
write,  you  had  to  set  before  them  a  full  plate  with  a 
napkin  underneath.  For  to  such  tripods  do  good 
oracles  yield;  without  this  incentive,  both  Apollo  and 
Mercury  would  fail  them;  as  it  was  they  even  became 
angry  and  went  away,  if  we  wished  to  detain  them  a 
little.  What  would  you  have  done  under  the  circum- 
stances? For  in  truth,  this  work  cannot  be  understood 
except  by  those  who  have  tried  it.  Besides,  as  these 
savages  have  no  formulated  religion,  government, 
towns,  nor  any  trades,  so  the  words  and  proper  phrases 
for  all  those  things  are  lacking;  Holy,  Blessed,  Angel, 
Grace,  Mystery,  Sacrament,  Temptation,  Faith,  Law, 
Prudence,  Subjection,  Authority,  etc.  Where  will  you 
get  all  these  things  that  they  lack?  Or,  how  will  you 
do  without  them?  O  God,  with  what  ease  we  make 
our  plans  in  France.  And  the  beauty  of  it  is,  that 
after  having  racked  our  brains  by  dint  of  questions 
and  researches,  and  after  thinking  that  we  have  at 
last  found  the  philosopher's  stone,  we  find  that  only 
a  ghost  has  been  taken  for  a  body,  a  shadow  for  a  sub- 
stance, and  that  all  this  precious  Elixir  has  gone  up  in 
smoke.  They  often  ridiculed  instead  of  teaching 
us,  and  sometimes  palmed  off  on  us  indecent  words, 
which  we  went  about  innocently  preaching  for  beau- 


The  Death  of  Sagamore  Membertou     100 

tiful    sentences    from    the    Gospels.     God    knows    who 
were  the  instigators  of  such  sacrileges." 

The  foregoing  plain  and  truthful  picture  of  the 
"noble  Indian"  character  may  furnish  food  for  thought 
to  a  few  of  the  numberless  American  people  who  have 
conceived  the  idea  that  the  primitive  Indian  was  a 
simple,  clean-minded,  upright  living,  honest  child  of 
the  forest,  until  he  degenerated  under  the  baleful  in- 
fluence of  the  white  men,  especially  the  Frenchmen. 
The  writings  of  Champlain  and  of  the  later  Jesuit 
missionaries  who  worked  in  Canada  and  around  the 
region  of  the  Great  Lakes  in  the  West,  and  down  the 
valley  of  the  Mississippi,  are  full  of  much  plainer  des- 
criptions of  the  unpleasant  and  disagreeable  character 
of  the  natives. 


CHAPTER  XV 
The  First  Mass  Said  In  Maink 

The  first  Mass  that  ever  was  said  in  the  country 
of  what  is  now  the  Province  of  New  Brunswick,  and  the 
first  administering  of  the  sacraments  of  Penance  and 
Holy  Eucharist,  took  place  in  the  Fall  of  the  year  1611. 
Biencourt  and  a  ship's  company,  together  with 
Father  Biard  went  on  an  expedition  to  the  west 
to  trade  with  the  Indians  living  on  the  Kennebec  river 
for  corn  and  what  other  food  they  could  get  to  help 
through  the  famine  which  they  knew  would  come  upon 
them  during  the  next  winter  at  Port  Royal.  On  the 
way,  Biencourt  determined  to  hunt  up  the  Maloans, 
(people  from  Malo  in  France)  who  were  poaching, 
as  we  would  say  now,  upon  the  lands  and  waters  owned 
by  Biencourt's  father,  Poutrincourt.  These  people 
gave  the  men  who  had  rightful  grants  from  the  Crown 
great  trouble,  as  they  hunted  and  fished,  and  what 
was  a  worse  offense,  traded  with  the  Indians,  over  the 
lands  reserved  by  lawful  grant,  illegally  and  wrongfully, 
without  permission  and  without  making  compensation. 
Biencourt  sailed  up  the  St.  John  River  several  leagues 
and  came  upon  their  encampment.  Their  commander, 
Captain  Merveille,  was  away  at  the  time,  but  came 
into  camp  during  the  night,  and  was  immediately 
taken  prisoner  by  Biencourt.  The  next  morning 
a  peace  was  patched  up  between  Biencourt 
and  the  Maloans  and  the  latter  agreed  to  recog- 
nise    the    superior    title   and    authority  of    Biencourt 


The  First  Mass  Said  In  Maine  hi 

and  to  make  compensation  for  their  illegal  trading. 
Father  Biard  then  said  Mass  and  Captain  Merveille 
made  his  confession  to  the  Father  and  received  com- 
munion together  with  three  of  his  men. 

However,  to  us  who  are  studying  the  early  history 
of  Maine,  it  is  of  greater  interest  to  know  that  the  first 
Mass  said  on  the  soil  of  the  State  of  Maine  was  said 
in  the  month  of  October,  1611,  on  an  island  in  the 
Kennebec  River,  three  leagues  from  its  mouth.  It 
is  a  pity  that  Father  Biard  leaves  us  no  description 
of  that  island  by  which  we  can  identify  it  today  from 
among  the  great  number  of  islands  in  the  lower  Kenne- 
bec. It  lies  between  Bath  and  the  sea,  about  three 
leagues  from  the  mouth  of  the  river,  and  imagination 
must  supply  the  rest.  The  Jesuit  relates  it  in  these 
words : 

"We  arrived  at  the  Kinibequi  towards  the  end 
of  October.  Kinnibequi  is  a  river  near  the  Armou- 
chiquois,  in  latitude  forty-three  and  two  third  degrees, 
and  southwest  of  Port  Royal  about  seventy  leagues  or 
thereabouts.  It  has  two  quite  large  mouths,  one 
distant  from  the  other  at  least  two  leagues;  it  is  also 
cut  up  by  numerous  arms  and  branches.  Besides, 
it  is  a  great  and  beautiful  river;  but  we  did  not  see  good 
soil  there  any  more  than  at  the  St.  John  River.  They 
say  however,  that  farther  up,  away  from  the  sea,  the 
country  is  very  fine  and  life  there  agreeable,  and  that 
the  people  till  the  soil.  We  did  not  go  farther  up 
than  three  leagues;  we  whirled  about  through  so  many 
eddies,  and  shot  over  so  many  precipices,  that  several 
times  it  was  a  great  miracle  of  God  that  we  did  not 
perish.  Some  of  our  crew  cried  out  at  two  different 
times  that  we  were  lost;  but  they  cried  too  soon,  blessed 
be  our  Lord.  The  savages  cajoled  us  with  the  hope 
of  getting  corn;  then  they  changed  their  promise   of 


112  The  Makers  of  Maine 

corn  to  that  of  trade  in  beaver  skins.  Now  while  this 
trading  was  going  on,  Father  Biard  had  gone,  with  a 
boy,  to  an  island  near  by,  to  celebrate  Holy  Mass.   ' 

The  company  traded  with  the  Indians  and  once 
came  near  to  having  trouble  with  them,  but  the  peace 
was  not  disturbed,  and  they  sailed  away  leaving  behind 
them  a  good  opinion  in  the  minds  of  the  Indians.  It 
seems  that  these  Indians  had  good  reason  to  fear  and 
hate  the  white  men  because  (as  I  have  stated  in  a 
former  chapter)  the  English  in  1608  had  abused  them 
shamefully.  Father  Biard,  says:  "These  people  do  not 
seem  to  be  bad,  although  they  drove  away  the  English 
who  wished  to  settle  among  them  in  1608  and  1609. 
They  made  excuses  to  us  for  this  act,  and  recounted 
the  outrages  they  had  experienced  from  the  English; 
and  they  flattered  us,  saying  that  they  loved  us  very 
much,  because  they  knew  we  would  not  close  our  doors 
to  the  savages  as  the  English  did,  and  set  our  dogs 
upon  them."  This  is  a  different  description  from  what 
has  come  down  to  us  from  the  English  writers  as  I 
shall  show  later. 

March  12th,  1613,  a  ship  was  fitted  out  and  sailed 
from  the  port  of  Honfleur,  France,  for  the  Jesuit  mission 
in  New  France.  It  was  the  intention  to  take  up  the 
two  Jesuits  at  Port  Royal,  Fathers.  Biard  and  Masse,  and 
remove  them  to  new  headquarters  to  be  founded  at  a 
point  on  the  Penobscot  River  in  Maine,  called  Kades- 
quit,  not  far  from  what  is  now  Bangor.  "But,"  as  Father 
Biard  says,  "dieu  en  disposa  autremente."  And  indeed 
He  ordained  so  much  "otherwise",  that  the  entire  his- 
tory of  Maine  has  resulted  differently.  If  the  intentions 
of  the  Jesuits  and  Madame  de  Guercheville 
their  financial  backer,  had  been  carried  into  effect 
identically  as  planned,  who  can  say  today  what  would 
have   been    the   history   of   Maine?     Under   what   flag 


The  First  Mass  Said  In  Maine  113 

would  we  be  living?  What  language  would  we  be 
speaking  and  writing  as  the  official  language  of  the 
State?  One  hundred  and  fifty  years  of  conflict  between 
France  and  England  for  the  possession  of  this  land  might 
have  been  avoided.  The  citadel  of  Quebec  might  to-day 
be  the  French  Giberaltar  of  the  west.  The  farmers  of 
Maine,  in  language,  laws,  customs,  and  religion,  might 
be  indistinguishable  from  the  "habitants"  of  the  Province 
of  Quebec.  The  American  Revolution,  if  it  had  hap- 
pened at  all,  might  have  meant  to  us  no  more  than  the 
distant  clash  of  arms  of  Virginia  planters  and  New  York 
merchants  with  their  English  cousins,  while  we  with 
friendly  sentiments  towards  both  sides  might  have 
looked  on  in  pity  and  regret. 

This  is  a  childish  dream  that  you  are  telling  us  and 
not  history,  the  reader  is  saying  to  himself  by  this  time. 
Have  patience.  Permit  me  to  assure  you  that  it  is  a 
solemn  fact  of  history  that  the  simple  fact  that  a  dense 
fog  happened  to  settle  down  on  the  coast  of  Maine  for 
several  days  and  nights  during  the  latter  part  of  the 
month  of  May  in  the  year  1613  preventing  a  ship  com- 
manded by  one  Captain  La  Saussaye  having  on  board 
four  Jesuits  and  a  crew  of  some  thirty  or  forty  men, 
from  finding  the  mouth  of  the  Penobscot  River,  changed 
the  whole  course  of  the  history  of  Maine  irrevocably. 

This  ship  sailed  from  France  under  the  command 
of  Captain  La  Saussaye  carrying  Father  Quentin  S. 
J.,  and  Brother  Gilbert  du  Thet  S.  J.,  and  a  company 
numbering  forty-eight  persons.  It  was  well  freighted. 
Besides  provisions,  it  carried  horses  and  cattle,  tents 
and  munitions  of  war.  May  16th,  after  two  months 
at  sea,  they  landed  at  Cap  de  la  Heve  on  the  coast  of 
Acadia.  Here  Mass  was  said  and  a  cross  was  erected 
upon  which  was  placed  the  coat  of  arms  of  Madame  la 
Marquise  de  Guercheville  as  a  sign  of     having     taken 


in  The  Makers  of  Maine 

possession  of  the  coast  in  her  name.  As  I  stated  in 
the  preceding  chapter,  Madame  de  Guercheville  was  now 
the  owner  of  all  New  France  from  the  St.  Lawrence 
to  Florida,  with  the  exception  of  Port  Royal,  by  royal 
grant  from  the  crown  of  France.  Putting  to  sea  again, 
they  came  to  Port  Royal.  Here  they  found  only  five 
persons,  the  two  Jesuits,  and  three  others.  Biencourt 
and  the  rest  of  his  company  were  off  on  an  expedition. 
After  five  days  at  Port  Royal  they  set  sail  again  for  the 
coast  of  Maine,  with  Fathers  Biard  and  Masse  on  board. 

As  I  have  said,  they  were  aiming  for  a  point  on  the 
Penobscot  River,  where  it  was  their  intention  to  found 
new  headquarters  for  the  mission.  But  when  off 
Grand  Manan  Island  they  ran  into  a  dense  fog  in  which 
they  were  lost  for  two  days  and  two  nights.  They  offered 
prayers  and  vows  to  God,  and,  as  Father  Biard  says, 
— "in  his  goodness  He  hearkened  to  us,  for  when  even- 
ing came  on  we  began  to  see  the  stars,  and  by  morning 
the  fog  had  all  disappeared.  We  recognized  that  we 
were  off  Mount  Desert,  an  island  which  the  savages 
call  Pemetiq.  The  pilot  turned  to  the  eastern  shore 
of  the  island,  and  there  located  us  in  a  large  and  beauti- 
ful port,  here  we  made  our  thanksgiving  to  God,  raising 
a  cross  and  singing  to  God  his  praises  with  the  sacrifice 
of  the  holy  Mass.  We  called  this  place  and  port  Saint 
Sauveur." 

A  quarrel  arose  between  the  sailors  and  the 
others  as  to  the  point  to  which  the  sailors  had  agreed 
to  ship.  The  pilot  maintained  that  no  ship  had 
ever  sailed  up  the  Penobscot  to  Kadesquit,  and  he  ab- 
solutely refused  to  immortalize  himself  by  being  the 
discoverer  of  a  new  route.  While  the  dispute  was  in  pro- 
gress, the  Indians  on  the  shore  signaled  the  ship  with 
smoke.  When  they  learned  that  Father  Biard  was 
aboard  they  urged  the  company  to  locate  at  this  point, 


The  First  Mass  Said  In  Maine  ne 

praising  it  very  highly.  Father  Biard  was  not  impressed 
by  their  praises  as  he  had  set  his  determination  upon 
reaching  the  place  on  the  Penobscot  called  Kadesquit. 
When  they  found  that  they  could  not  prevail  upon  him 
to  stay  by  their  praises  of  the  location,  they  resorted 
to  an  argument  which  was  unanswerable  by  the  priest, 
and  which  shows  how  quickly  and  shrewdly  they  esti- 
mated the  missionary  zeal  of  the  Jesuits.  They  pretend- 
ed that  their  Sagamore  was  very  sick  and  in  danger 
of  death.  "If  thou  dost  not  come  (they  said)  he  will 
die  without  baptism  and  will  not  go  to  heaven;  thou 
wilt  be  the  cause  of  it,  for  he  himself  wishes  very  much 
to  be  baptized."  Fr.  Biard  at  once  went  with  them; 
and  to  his  chagrin  found  that  the  great  Sagamore  was 
ill  with  a  cold. 

However,  after  considering  the  situation  the  voy- 
agers decided  that  they  would  do  well  to  locate  their 
fort  and  settlement  at  this  place  which  they  had  called 
St.  Sauveur,  being  impressed  by  the  natural  beauty  of 
the  scenery.  We  children  of  Maine  can  appreciate 
with  what  pleasure  they  must  have  viewed  the  romantic 
shores  of  Mt.  Desert  Island.  It  calls  for  the  pen  of  a 
poet  to  do  justice  in  words  to  the  beauty  of  the  scenery 
of  this  part  of  the  coast  of  Maine.  The  writer  is  not  a 
poet.  But  fortunately  most  of  the  readers  of  these 
articles  are  familiar  with  the  shores  of  this  State  and 
appreciative  of  the  charm  of  its  varying  coast  line,  the 
skies  continually  changing,  with  glimpses  of  blue  more 
brilliant  than  the  famed  skies  of  Sicily,  views  of  green 
hills  of  romantic  beauty  constrasted  with  the  darker 
green  of  the  foliage,  a  shore  line  changing  in  a  few  miles 
into  the  sublime  grandeur  of  great  cliffs  their  grayrock 
seamed  with  bands  of  brown  and  red.  The  pen  of  the 
Jesuit  is  plain  and  matter  of  fact,  his  descriptions  are 
characterized  by  a  certain  naive  simplicity  rather  than 


116  The  Makers  of  Maine 

enthusiasm,  but  even  his  sober  style  is  enlivened  by 
the  impression  which  the  view  of  this  shore  made  upon 
him.  He  says:  "This  place  is  a  beautiful  hill  rising 
gently  from  the  sea,  its  sides  bathed  by  two  springs; 
the  land  is  cleared  for  twenty  or  twenty-five  acres,  and 
in  some  places  is  covered  with  grass  almost  as  high  as  a 
man.  It  faces  the  south  and  east,  and  is  near  the 
mouth  of  the  Pentegoet  (the  Penobscot),  where  several 
broad  and  pleasant  rivers,  which  abound  in  fish,  dis- 
charge their  waters;  its  soil  is  dark,  rich  and  fertile; 
the  port  and  harbor  are  as  fine  as  can  be  seen,  and  are 
in  a  position  favorable  to  command  the  entire  coast; 
the  harbor  especially  is  as  safe  as  a  pond.  For  besides 
being  strengthened  by  the  great  island  of  Mount  De- 
sert, it  is  still  more  protected  by  certain  small  islands 
which  break  the  currents  and  the  winds  and  fortify  the 
entrance.  It  is  situated  latitude  44  1-3  degrees,  a  posi- 
tion still  less  northerly  than  that  of  Bordeau." 

I  transcribe  this  statement  more  especially  for  the 
benefit  of  those  readers  who  are  particularly  familiar 
with  the  spot  now  known  with  fair  certainty  to  have 
been  the  exact  position  where  St.  Sauveur  was  located 
where  the  cross  was  erected  and  Mass  celebrated  for 
the  first  time  on  the  shore  near  Mt.  Desert  Island 
(but  not  the  first  Mass  in  Maine  as  I  have  shown  in 
the  preceding  chapter),  and  where  the  first  Jesuit 
was  martyred  in  the  State  of  Maine. 

Father  Biard  then  proceeds  to  say  these  significant 
words:  "With  the  beginning  of  work  also  began  the 
quarrels,  a  second  sign  and  augury  of  our  ill  luck.  The 
cause  of  these  dissensions  was  principally  that  La  Saus- 
saye,  our  captain,  amused  himself  too  much  in  culti- 
vating the  land,  while  all  the  chiefs  of  the  enterprise 
were  urging  him  not  to  employ  the  laborers  for  that 
purpose,  but  to  get  to  work  without  delay  upon  the 


The  First  Mass  Said  in  Maine  117 

houses  and  fortifications,  which  he  did  not  wish  to  do. 
From  these  disputes  sprang  others,  until  the  English 
brought  us  all  to  an  understanding  with  each  other,  as 
you  will  hear  immediately." 


CHAPTER  XVI 
The  Argall  Outrage 

The  readers  of  these  essays  are  all  familiar  with 
the  location  of  Jamestown,  Virginia,  and  how  far  dis- 
tant it  was  from  St.  Sauveur  on  the  coast  of  Maine. 
Surely  then,  there  was  plenty  of  room  for  both  ambi- 
tious nations  to  live  in  peace  and  security  in  this  vast 
extent  of  territory.  Or  as  Father  Biard  says,  "Judge  if 
they  have  any  good  reason  for  quarreling  with  us." 
I  have  now,  in  the  course  of  this  narrative  reached  the 
point  where  I  must  relate  the  story  of  a  foul,  cold-blood- 
ed murder  committed  by  Englishmen  in  a  time  of  pro- 
found peace  between  France  and  England.  The  story 
is  an  old  one,  an  oft-told  tale,  familiar  to  all  readers  of 
history.  But  perhaps  I  can  relate  some  details  taken 
from  the  narrative  of  one  of  the  eye-witnesses  of  the 
affair,  which  may  interest  the  reader  because  my  infor- 
mation is  from  the  original  sources. 

The  English  from  Virginia  were  accustomed  every 
summer  to  send  an  expedition  to  the  region  of  the  Gulf 
of  Maine  and  the  Banks  to  get  a  supply  of  codfish. 
A  ship  commanded  by  Captain  Argall  was  making  for 
this  place  as  usual  in  the  summer  of  1613  when  it  hap- 
pened to  be  caught  in  this  same  fog  which  turned  the 
French  ship  under  La  Saussaye  to  its  new  settlement 
of  St.  Sauveur  instead  of  to  its  original  objective,  a 
point  up  the  Penobscot.  This  Captain  Argall  was  a 
crafty,  unscrupulous,  pitiless  adventurer,  who  had  al- 
ready  gained  an  unenviable  reputation  as  a  commander 


The  Argall  Outrage  no 

of  illicit  trading  vessels,  and  who  was  then  fresh  from 
his  despicable  exploit  of  abducting  Pocahontas,  the 
young  Indian  princess,  and  carrying  her  a  prisoner  to 
Jamestown.  Fr.  Biard,  however,  in  his  Relation, 
does  not  give  him  credit  for  one  weak  excuse  for  this 
attack  upon  St.  Sauveur,  which  in  all  fairness  in  writ- 
ing history  should  be  mentioned.  He  was  sailing  under 
a  commission  from  Sir  Thomas  Dale,  Governor  of  Vir- 
ginia, with  authority  to  expel  any  intruders  upon  the 
domains  of  King  James  of  England  (if  anybody  could 
then  or  can  now  define  the  limits  of  that  domain. 
With  him  were  an  admirable  company,  from  the 
Virginia  Colony,  of  ruined  younger  sons,  disreputable 
gentlemen,  and  hangers-on  of  London  taverns  and 
gambling-houses. 

Unfortunately,  some  Indians  passing  near 
his  ship  supposed  that  he  was  a  Frenchman  looking 
for  his  compatriots,  and  they,  actuated  by  friendship 
for  the  French,  informed  him  of  the  presence  of  the 
French  at  St.  Sauveur,  and  upon  being  questioned  by 
him,  in  signs,  as  to  the  number  of  French,  gave  him  to 
understand  that  the  company  was  weak  in  number. 
With  great  glee  he  directed  the  Indians  to  pilot  him  to 
his  friends  and  compatriots,  the  French.  When  the 
English  discovered  the  French  settlement  they  began  to 
clear  their  ship  for  action.  When  the  Indians  saw  the 
the  mistake  that  they  had  unwittingly  committed, 
they  wept  and  cursed  the  English  and  leaped  overboard 
and  swam  ashore. 

Father  Biard  describes  the  astonishment  of  the 
French  as  this  English  ship  bore  down  upon  them 
showing  every  sign  of  hostility,  while  they  them- 
selves were  totally  unprepared.  With  these  expressive 
words  he  describes  the  appearance  of  the  British  ships: 
"Le  nauire  Anglois  venoit  plus  viste  qu'vn  dard,  ayant 


120  The  Makers  of  Maine 

vent  a  souhait,  tout  pauis  de  rouge,  les  pauillons  d'An- 
gleterre  fiottans,  trois  trompettes  &  deux  tambours 
faisants  rage  de  sonner."  The  French  were  taken  wholly 
unaware.  Their  ship  was  deprived  of  half  its  sailors,  an 
had  only  ten  men  to  defend  it,  and  of  these  none  under- 
stood naval  warfare.  Besides,  as  it  was  summer  and 
they  were  not  anticipating  any  attack  from  a  nation 
with  whom  France  was  at  peace,  the  ship  was  entirely 
disarranged,  even  the  sails  had  been  taken  down  and 
were  being  used  for  awnings.  Their  commander,  La 
Saussaye  was  on  shore,  and  did  not  go  aboard  upon  the 
approach  of  the  English,  and  although  the  Jesuit  writer 
does  not  say  so  in  words,  the  inference  must  be  clearly 
drawn  from  his  narration  that  La  Saussaye  ran  away. 
The  English  fired  one  terrible  volley. 

Let  me  quote  Father  Biard  for  the  rest:  "Captain 
Flory  cried,  'Fire  the  cannon,  fire,'  but  the  cannoneer  was 
not  there.  Now  Brother  Gilbert  du  Thet,  who  in  all  his 
life  had  never  felt  fear  or  shown  himself  a  coward,  hearing 
this  command  and  seeing  no  one  to  obey  it,  took  a  match 
and  made  us  speak  as  loudly  as  the  enemy.  Unfortu- 
nately, he  did  not  take  aim;  if  he  had,  perhaps  there 
might  have  been  something  worse  than  mere  noise. 
The  English,  after  this  first  and  furious  volley,  came 
alongside  of  us,  and  held  an  anchor  ready  to  grapple 
our  bits.  Captain  Flory  very  opportunely  paid  out 
more  cable,  which  stopped  the  enemy  and  made  them 
turn  away,  for  they  were  afraid  if  they  pursued  us  we 
would  draw  them  into  shallow  water;  then  seeing  our 
vessel  fall  back,  and  thus  being  reassured,  they  again 
began  to  approach  us,  firing  off  the  muskets  as  before. 
It  was  during  this  second  charge  that  Brother  Gilbert 
du  Thet  received  a  musket  shot  in  his  body  and  fell 
stretched  out  across  the  deck.  Captain  Flory  was  also 
wounded  in  the  foot,  and  three  others  in  other  places, 


Q    * 
*!    S 


1*5 


*•>  * 


v.     ^ 


The  Argall  Outrage  121 

which  made  them  signal  and  cry  out  that  we  surrend- 
ered, for  it  was  evidently  a  very  unequal  match." 

In  this  way  it  was  that  the  first  Jesuit  to  lose  his 
life  in  Maine  came  to  his  death  fighting  like  a  brave 
man. 

In  a  few  words,  quoted  from  Father  Biard  in  his  clear 
and  simple  style,  free  from  exaggeration  and  rhetorical 
flourish,  I  have  related  the  history  of  Argall's  outrage. 
Thus  did  bloody  Argall,  in  his  lawlessness,  strike  the 
first  blow,  which  brought  on  the  long  series  of  battles 
and  wars  between  France  and  England  in  the  new  world, 
which  lasted  for  one  hundred  and  fifty  years,  deluged 
Maine  and  Canada  with  blood,  cost  the  lives  of  thous- 
ands of  English  and  French  and  countless  numbers  of 
Indians,  occasioned  numerous  acts  of  treachery  and 
cruelty,  martyred  many  missionary  priests,  retarded  the 
peaceful  advance  of  civilization  and  Christianity,  and 
gave  rise  to  bitterness,  disputes  and  lies,  the  influence 
and  effect  of  which  have  been  felt  in  history  from  that 
day  to  this. 

Captian  Argall,  knowing  well  that  his  act  was  un- 
warranted by  the  conditions  existing  in  Acadia  and 
Maine  and  unjustifiable  in  international  law;  that  his 
attack  upon  the  French  ship  was  nothing  less  than 
piracy;  and  that  the  destruction  of  the  fortifications 
and  burning  of  the  camps  on  shore  would  furnish  France 
with  a  "casus  belli"  against  England;  devised  a  shrewd 
and  cunning  scheme  to  make  his  act  appear  excusable  if 
not  entirely  justifiable  and  to  shift  to  La  Saussaye  the 
burden  of  proving  his  case.  As  I  have  stated,  Father 
Biard  insinuates,  although  not  charging  in  so  many 
words,  that  the  French  commander  of  the  expedition 
preferred  his  own  personal  safety  to  the  hazards  of  the 
unequal  battle,  and  hid  himself  in  the  woods  while  the 
fight  was  on.     After  that  short  and  bloody  encounter 


122  The  Makers  of  Maine 

was  over  La  Saussaye  could  not  be  found.  Therefore 
Argall  took  advantage  of  his  absence  to  pick  the  locks 
of  his  trunks;  he  abstracted  the  commissions  and  royal 
patents,  afterwards  putting  everything  back  in  its 
place,  fastening  the  trunks  again.  The  next  day  La 
Saussaye  returned,  and  Argall  received  him  with  court- 
esy, and  asked  him  to  show  his  commission  from  the 
French  king.  La  Saussaye  answered  that  his  authority 
would  be  found  all  correct  and  regular  in  his  trunks 
He  proceeded  to  open  them,  when,  of  course,  they  were 
not  to  be  found.  At  this,  Argall  pretended  to  fly  into 
a  terrible  rage.  "How  now,"  he  said,  "are  you  imposing 
on  us?  You  give  us  to  understand  that  you  have  a 
commission  from  your  king,  and  you  cannot  produce 
any  evidence  of  it.  You  are  outlaws  and  pirates,  every 
one  of  you,  and  you  merit  death." 

Then  the  English  plundered  the  Frenchmen,  not 
only  their  goods,  but  even  the  very  clothes  they  wore. 
The  poor  Frenchmen  were  reduced  to  a  pitiable  state. 
It  was  then  that  the  Indians  showed  their  good  will 
and  friendship  towards  them,  as  well  as  their  means  per- 
mitted. Father.  Biard  says:  "Now  it  is  impossible  to 
imagine  the  anxiety  we  endured  at  that  time,  for  we 
knew  not  which  way  to  turn.  From  the  English,  we 
expected  only  death  or  at  least  slavery;  but  to  remain 
in  this  country,  and  for  so  many  men  to  live  among  the 
savages  in  their  way  for  a  whole  year,  looked  to  us  like 
a  long  and  miserable  death.  These  good  savages, 
having  heard  about  our  misfortune,  came  and  offered 
to  do  their  best  for  us,  promising  to  feed  us  during  the 
winter,  and  showing  a  great  deal  of  sympathy  for  us. 
But  we  could  hope  for  nothing  better  than  they  had; 
also  we  could  see  no  prospect  of  finding  any  other  ex- 
peditions in  such  a  desert." 

Those    are    the    words    of    Father    Biard.     Those 


The  Argall  Outrage  123 

words  are  the  original  authority  for  all  the  history  that 
may  be  written  upon  the  battle  of  St.  Sauveur.  I 
do  not  know  of  any  other  original  source.  I  have  never 
heard  that  Argall  ever  wrote  a  history,  or  any  record  of 
the  battle.  Therefore,  every  writer,  who  has  since 
written  the  tale,  has  either  taken  his  authority  second- 
hand, or  he  has  been  obliged  to  take  the  story  from  the 
relation  of  Father  Biard.  Yet,  in  spite  of  the  fact  that 
this  relation  is  the  original  and  only  authority,  it  seems 
that  it  is  impossible  for  some  writers,  and  able  and 
noted  writers  at  that,  to  relate  the  story  truthfully,  in 
accordance  with  the  facts,  and  without  insinuations 
and  innuendos  which  change  the  facts.  As  an  example 
of  this  inability  of  most  English  writers  of  history  to 
write  of  any  event  in  which  the  Jesuits  were  actors  with 
truthfulness  and  sincerity,  let  us  quote  from  the  histori- 
cal writings  of  John  Fiske.  Fiske  ranks  high  as  a  writer 
of  American  history.  In  his  work  "New  France  and 
New  England,"  published  in  1P02,  he  relates  the  Argall 
incident  in  the  following  words: 

"When  the  Jonas  arrived  on  the  Acadian  coast,  the 
chief  of  the  expedition,  a  gentleman  of  the  court  named 
La  Saussaye,  set  up  a  standard  bearing  Madame  de 
Guercheville's  coat  of  arms.  At  Port  Royal  he  picked 
up  a  couple  of  Jesuits  and  thence  stood  for  Penobscot 
Bay,  but  first  he  entered  Frenchman's  Bay  at  Mount 
Desert,  and  dropped  anchor  there,  for  the  place  attract- 
ed him.  Presently  a  spot  was  found  so  charming  that 
it  was  decided  to  make  a  settlement  there.  It  was  on 
the  western  shore  of  Somes  Sound,  between  Flying 
Mountain  and  Fernald  Cove.  Scarcely  had  work  be- 
gun there,  when  a  sloop  of  war  came  into  the  sound, 
carrying  fourteen  guns,  and  at  her  masthead  was  flying 
the  little  red  flag  of  England.  She  was  commanded  by 
young  Captain  Samuel  Argall,  who  had  come  all  the 


124  The  Makers  of  Maine 

way  from  James  river  to  fish  for  cod,  but  incidentally 
Sir  Thomas  Dale,  who  was  then  governing  Virginia 
under  the  title  of  High  Marshall,  had  instructed  him  to 
look  out  for  any  Frenchmen  who  might  have  ventured 
to  trespass  upon  the  territory  granted  by  King  James 
to  the  Virginia  Company.  Argall  had  picked  up  some 
Indians  in  Penobscot  Bay  who  told  him  of  the  white 
men  at  Mount  Desert,  and  from  their  descriptions  he 
recognized  the  characteristic  shrugs  and  bows  of  French 
men.  When  his  flag  appeared  in  Somes  Sound,  the 
French  commander,  La  Saussaye,  with  some  of  the  more 
timid  ones,  took  to  the  woods,  but  a  few  bold  spirits 
tried  to  defend  their  ship.  It  was  of  no  use.  After 
two  or  three  raking  shots  the  English  boarded  and 
took  possession  of  her.  The  astute  Argall  searched 
La  Saussaye's  baggage  until  he  found  his  commission 
from  the  French  government,  which  he  quietly  tucked 
into  his  pocket.  After  a  while  La  Sausaye,  overcome 
by  hunger,  emerged  from  his  hiding-place  and  was 
received  with  extreme  politeness  by  Argall,  who  ex- 
pressed much  regret  for  the  disagreeable  necessity  under 
which  he  had  laboured.  It  was  a  pity  to  have  to  dis- 
turb such  estimable  gentlemen,  but  really  this  land 
belonged  to  King  James  and  not  to  King  Louis.  Of 
course,  however,  the  noble  chevalier  must  be  acting 
under  a  royal  commission,  which  would  lay  the  whole 
burden  of  the  affair  upon  the  shoulders  of  King  Louis 
and  exonerate  the  officers  who  were  merely  acting  under 
orders.  So  spake  the  foxy  Argall,  adding  with  his 
blandest  smile  that,  just  as  a  matter  of  formal  courtesy, 
he  would  like  to  see  the  commission.  We  can  fancy  the 
smile  growing  more  grim  and  Mephistophelean  as  the 
bewildered  Frenchman  hunted  and  hunted.  When 
at  length  it  appeared  that  La  Saussaye  could  produce 
no  such  document  Argall  began  to  bluster  and  swear. 


The  Argall  Outrage  125 

He  called  the  Frenchmen  pirates,  and  confiscated  all 
their  property  scarcely  leaving  a  coat  to  their  backs. 
Then,  as  he  had  not  room  enough  for  all  the  prisoners, 
he  put  La  Saussaye,  with  one  of  the  Jesuit  fathers  and 
thirteen  men,  into  an  open  boat  and  left  them  to  their 
fate,  which  turned  out  to  be  a  kindly  one,  for  after  a 
few  days  they  were  picked  up  by  a  French  merchant 
ship  and  carried  back  to  the  Old  World." 

From  the  foregoing,  would  not  a  reader  of. history 
draw  the  inference,  and  carry  away  with  him  the  idea 
that  Argall  and  his  company  of  Englishmen  were 
strictly  within  their  rights,  and  that  the  Frenchmen 
were  trespassers  upon  the  domains  of  the  English  King? 
Would  not  one  also  carry  away  the  impression  that 
Argall  was  only  a  shrewd  and  able  English  commander, 
using  justifiable  means  of  deception  for  the  advancement 
of  the  interests  of  his  King?  I  venture  to  say  that 
such  is  the  impression  that  most  readers  of  history 
have  of  that  event,  which  is  rightly  called,  by  those 
who  know  the  truth, — "the  Argall  outrage." 

Indeed  so  worthy  and  credible  and  dignified  a 
historian  as  Bancroft,  himself,  describes  the  St.  Sauv- 
eur  affair  contrary  to  the  truth  in  some  particulars. 
Why  he  does  so,  it  is  hard  to  understand.  For  instance 
he  says,  that  the  English,  under  Argall,  bombarded  the 
French  fort  at  St.  Sauveur.  We  know,  from  the  reading 
of  the  Jesuit  Relation,  that  the  French  had  no  time  to 
erect  intrenchments,  much  less  a  fort,  and,  besides,  we 
know  that  the  French  commander,  La  Saussaye,  act- 
ually did  not  take  ordinary  military  precautions.  In 
addition,  Bancroft  has  made  the  further  and  inexcu- 
sable error  of  saying  that  Argall  put  a  part  of  the  French 
company,  after  the  fight,  on  board  French  vessels. 
Whereas,  we  know  that  the  truth  was  that  La  Saussaye, 
Father    Mass6,    and    thirteen   others   were    mercilessly 


126  The  Makers  of  Maine 

cast  off  in  an  open  boat;  but  they  made  their  way  east- 
ward, as  best  they  could  by  the  aid  of  oars,  coasting 
along  this  shore  until  they  came  to  the  southern  part  of 
Nova  Scotia,  where  they  found  a  trading  vessel  in 
which  they  secured  a  passage  to  St.  Malo. 

While  we  are  upon  the  matter  of  misstating  history, 
a  point  that  I  have  mentioned  before,  and  shall  have 
to  mention  again,  I  desire  to  call  attention  to  the  error 
made  by  Williamson,  the  Historian  of  Maine,  whose 
history  is  reckoned  to  be  the  best  authority,  it  is  not 
out  of  the  way  to  mention  it  now.  As  the  location  of 
the  St.  Sauveur  settlement,  which  was  broken  up  by 
Argall,  was  on  the  shore  of  what  is  now  called,  on  maps 
of  Maine,  Frenchman's  Bay.  The  truth  is  that  the 
name  Frenchman's  Bay  was  given  to  this  inlet  of  the 
sea  long  after  the  time  when  the  French  were  at  St. 
Sauveur.  Yet,  Williamson  relates  that  the  name 
was  given  to  these  waters  for  the  reason  that  a  French 
priest,  Nicholas  d'Aubri,  was  lost  here  on  an  island. 
For  his  authority  he  refers  to  Sullivan,  the  Historian 
of  the  District  of  Maine,  who  tells  the  story  with  the 
important  difference  that  he  locates  the  scene  on  the 
west  side  of  what  is  now  the  Bay  of  Fundy,  which,  as 
we  have  learned  before  from  Champlain's  History,  and 
Lescarbot's  History,  was  called  French  Bay  by  De 
Monts,  but  not  because  of  d'Aubri's  adventure.  Wil- 
liamson has  confused  the  whole  matter.  The  truth  is, 
as  we  have  shown  before,  the  first  French  expedition 
named  what  is  now  the  Bay  of  Fundy,  "French  Bay," 
and  it  was  there  that  this  French  priest  was  lost,  and 
not  years  afterwards  at  what  is  now  Frenchman's  Bay. 

The  statement  of  Sullivan,  in  his  History  of  the 
District  of  Maine,  that  "there  were  anciently  many 
French  settlements  on  that  part  of  the  Bay  which  is 
opposite  to  the  Banks  of  Mount  Desert,  as  well  as  on 


The  Argall  Outrage  127 

the  island  itself,"  is  a  gratuitous  assertion.  In  fact, 
the  only  ancient  settlement  upon  this  bay  was  that  of 
St.  Sauveur  in  1613,  as  we  have  just  related. 


CHAPTER  XVII 

The  Jesuits  are  Carried  to  Virginia 
and  England 

Argall  divided  the  captive  French.  He  placed 
fifteen  in  one  of  their  boats  to  make  their  way  back  to 
France  as  best  they  could,  and  fifteen  he  took  with  him 
to  Virginia;  in  the  latter  company  Father  Biard  was  in- 
cluded, and  fifteen  had  made  their  escape  when  the 
attack  was  made  and  were  on  shore  with  the  pilot. 
This  latter  company  later  joined  the  fifteen  that  Ar- 
gall had  sent  adrift,  and  after  many  vicissitudes  they 
arrived  safely  at  St.  Malo  in  France.  Father  Biard  relates 
the  adventures  of  himself  and  his  comrades  in  Virginia. 
They  were  not  welcomed  there.  The  good  priest  was 
sadly  disappointed  in  Sir  Thomas  Dale,  Governor  of 
Virginia,  "Marshall  of  Virginia,"  as  he  calls  him.  He 
was  told  that  Dale  was  a  great  friend  to  the  French  as 
he  had  been  a  soldier  and  pensioner  of  Henry  the  Great. 
"But,"  says  Father  Biard,  "our  preachers  did  not  take 
their  text  from  the  Gospels.  For  this  charming  Mar- 
shall, who  had  the  fibre  and  character  of  a  Frenchman, 
as  they  said,  when  he  heard  an  account  of  us,  talked 
nothing  but  ropes  and  gallows  and  of  having  every  one 
of  us  hanged.  We  were  badly  frightened,  and  some 
lost  their  peace  of  mind,  expecting  nothing  less  than  to 
ignominiously  walk  up  a  ladder  to  be  let  down  disgrace- 
fully by  a  rope." 

However,  they  were  saved  from  death  by  no  other 
than  Argall  himself,  who  alleged  his  promise  and  word 


Jesuits  Carried  to  Virginia  and  England  129 

given  to  them  in  Maine  that  they  should  suffer  no  harm. 
It  was  decided  that  Argall  should  return  to  Maine  and 
Acadia,  taking  Father  Biard  and  his  companies  with 
him,  and  should  plunder  and  burn  and  destroy  all  the  set- 
tlements of  the  French.  They  went  first  to  St.  Sauveur; 
completed  the  destruction  of  the  fortifications  there,  and 
tore  down  the  cross.  Then  they  searched  for  the  De 
Monts  settlement  on  the  St.  Croix.  Argall  desired  Father 
Biard  to  guide  them,  but  his  refusal,  as  he  says,  "caused 
him  to  be  in  complete  disgrace  with  Argall  and  in  great 
danger  of  his  life."  Argall  did  not  attempt  to  force  Father 
Biard  to  guide  him  to  Port  Royal,  after  his  refusal  to  point 
out  the  St.  Croix  settlement  and  Father  Biard  claims  that 
Argall  captured  an  Indian  Sagamore  who  showed  him  the 
way  to  Port  Royal.  It  seems  that  some  of  the  French 
who  were  around  and  about  Port  Royal  believed  that 
Father  Biard  guided  the  English  to  the  settlement.  And 
Francis  Parkman,  the  historian,  author  of  "Pioneers  of 
New  France,"  and  "The  Jesuits  in  North  America,"  ac- 
cepts the  belief.as  he  readily  accepts  every  aspersion  upon 
the  character  of  a  Jesuit.  It  is  true  that  Father  Biard 
passes  over  the  incident  of  the  capture  of  the  Sagamore 
with  less  comment  than  he  usually  indulges  in;  he  does 
not  give  the  name  of  the  Sagamore;  and  although  he 
knew  and  admits  that  some  of  the  French  charged  him 
with  treachery,  he  does  not  reply  and  defend  himself 
fully  and  carefully  as  he  usually  does  in  reference  to 
other  false  charges  against  the  Jesuits.  Yet  it  is  diffi- 
cult, in  view  of  his  whole  career  of  probity  and  honor, 
to  believe  that  he  could  have  been  guilty  of  such  a  base 
act  of  treason  and  disloyalty  to  his  countrymen. 

The  English  burned  and  destroyed  the  Port  Royal 
settlement,  and  looted  the  place  even  to  the  extent  of 
taking  away  the  boards,  bolts,  locks  and  nails.     No- 


130  The  Makers  of  Maine 

vember  9th,  1613,  the  English  sailed  away  from  Port 
Royal,  intending  to  return  to  Virginia. 

Father  Biard  was  aboard  a  ship  commanded  by  one 
Lieutenant  Turnel.  The  ships  were  separated  in  a  great 
storm,  and  the  ship  commanded  by  Turnel  was  obliged 
to  make  its  way  to  the  Azores.  These  islands  were  in- 
habited by  Catholic  people.  Turnel,  whom  Father 
Biard  now  calls,  "the  Captain,"  because  he  was  in 
command  of  the  vessel  which  was  separated  from 
Argall's  command  during  the  storm,  believed  with  the 
other  Englishmen,  that  Father  Biard  was  a  traitor  to  the 
French  and  at  heart  a  Spaniard,  if  not  one  by  birth.  I 
will  quote  the  following  conversation  from  Biard's  Re- 
lation : 

"Once  when  he  was  feeling  very  repentant,  he  called 
Father  Biard  and  held  with  him  the  following  conversa- 
tion,which  I  here  insert  almost  word  for  word;  for  this 
Captain  spoke  good  French,  and  many  other  common 
languages,  besides  Italian  and  Greek,  which  he  under- 
stood very  well;  he  was  a  man  of  great  intelligence 
and  a  thorough  student.  'Father  Biard,'  (said  he) 
'God  is  angry  at  us,  I  see  it  clearly;  he  is  angry  at  us, 
I  say  but  not  at  you;  angry  at  us  because  we  went  to 
make  war  on  you  without  first  giving  you  notice,  which 
is  contrary  to  the  rights  of  nations.  But  I  protest 
that  it  was  contrary  to  my  advice  and  my  inclination. 
I  did  not  know  what  to  do,  I  had  to  follow,  I  was  merely 
a  servant.  But  I  tell  you  I  see  very  clearly  that  God's 
wrath  is  kindled  against  us,  but  not  against  you,  although 
on  your  account;  for  you  do  nothing  but  suffer.'  The 
Captain  pausing  here,  you  may  judge  whether  or  not 
the  Jesuit  failed  to  make  a  suitable  answer.  The  Cap- 
tain took  up  another  phase  of  the  question.  'But, 
Father  Biard,'  (says  he)  'it  is  strange  that  your 
countrymen     from     Port    Royal    should    accuse    you 


Jesuits  Carried  to  Virginia  and  England  131 

thus.'  The  Father  answers:  'But,  Sir,  have  you  ever 
heard  me  slander  them?'  'By  no  means,'  he  says, 
'but  I  have  clearly  observed  that  when  evil  things 
are  said  of  them,  both  before  Captain  Argall  and  be- 
fore me,  you  have  always  defended  them,  of  which  I 
am  a  good  witness.'  'Sir,'  (the  Father  says)  'draw 
your  own  conclusions  from  that,  and  judge  which  have 
God  and  truth  on  their  side,  whether  the  slanderers 
or  the  charitable.'  'I  know  that  very  well,'  says  the 
Captain,  'but,  Father  Biard,  did  not  charity  make  you 
lie  when  you  told  me  that  we  should  find  nothing  but 
misery  at  Port  Royal?'  'Pardon  me,  answers  the 
Father,  'I  beg  you  to  remember  that  I  told  you  only 
that  when  I  was  there  I  saw  and  found  nothing  but 
misery.' 

The  foregoing  relation  of  this  conversation  may 
throw  more  light  upon  Father  Biard's  character  than 
pages  of  argument.  And  I  consider  the  question 
important,  because,  upon  whether  we  accept  the  Jesuit's 
relation  of  the  attack  of  the  English  and  their  actions, 
or  the  version  that  has  come  down  to  us  from  the  English 
depends  entirely  our  view  of  this  period  of  history 
and  the  right  and  wrong  of  all  the  acts  of  hostility 
between  the  English  and  the  French  and  Indians  which 
occurred  afterwards. 

While  the  ship  was  at  the  Azores  the  Jesuits  re- 
mained hidden  in  the  hold  of  the  vessel  for  three  whole 
weeks,  so  that  they  would  not  be  discovered  by  the 
Catholic  people  of  the  A7ores,  who  would  have  wrecked 
summary  vengeance  upon  the  English  for  keeping 
Catholic  priests  prisoners. 

Upon  their  arrival  in  England,  the  Jesuits  were 
treated  with  great  consideration,  were  entertained  by 
gentlemen  holding  official  positions  and  were  sent  back 
to    France    with    great    honor.     Father    Biard    relates 


132  The  Makers  of  Maine 

his  experiences,  and  tells  his  impressions  of  the  English 
Church  and  Churchmen.  The  following  is  an  interest- 
ing excerpt  from  the  "Relations,"  as  showing  the  Jesuit's 
observations  of  religious  institutions  with  which  he  was 
not  familiar  and  concerning  which  he  had  doubtless 
been  misinformed  before  his  visit  to  England. 

"Now  during  this  sojourn  all  kinds  of  people  went 
to  see  them  and  some  from  a  great  distance,  through 
curiosity  to  see  Jesuits  dressed  in  their  robes,  as  they 
were  then  and  always  have  been  until  their  return  to 
France,  Ministers,  Justices,  gentlemen,  and  others 
came  to  confer  with  them,  even,  a  Lord  of  the  Great 
Council  wished  to  have  the  pleasure  ol  pitting  four 
Ministers  against  them  in  debate.  I  say  Ministers, 
to  make  myself  intelligible  to  the  French,  for  in  Eng- 
land they  call  them  Priests.  And  the  chief  one  in  the 
debate  was  an  Archdeacon,  for  the  English  still  have  a 
great  many  things  in  common  with  the  Catholic  Church, 
as  the  Order  of  the  Ecclesiastical  Hierarchy,  Arch- 
bishops, Bishops,  Priests,  Archpriests,  Archdeacons 
Curates,  Canons,  etc. ;  the  Episcopal  laying  on  of 
hands  in  the  ordination  of  Priests  and  lesser  orders, 
and  in  the  confirmation  of  children;  the  Chrism  and  its 
ceremonies,  the  sign  of  the  Cross,  the  Image  of  this 
and  of  other  things;  the  Psalmody  and  usual  forms 
of  worship,  the  prescribed  Saints'  days,  the  Vigils, 
Fasts,  Lent,  Abstinence  from  meat  on  Friday  and  Sat- 
urday; priestly  robes  and  consecrated  vessels.  And 
those  who  condemn  all  these  things,  as  the  Calvinists 
of  France  and  of  Scotland  do,  and  call  them  damnable 
superstitions  and  inventions  of  the  anti-Christ,  are  by 
the  English  called  Puritans,  and  are  detested  by  them  as 
abominable  plagues." 


CHAPTER  XVIII 
Miracles  In  Maine 

In  closing  his  "Relations"  of  the  year  1613,  Father 
Biard  writes  an  account  of  some  occurrences  of  a  mira- 
culous nature  which  happened  during  his  period  of  ser- 
vice as  a  missionary  priest  in  New  France.  I  shall 
briefly  relate  the  facts  as  he  tells  them,  without  discus- 
sion or  comment,  leaving  the  matter  to  my  readers 
for  their  own  opinions.  The  Jesuit  was  informed  that 
at  Baye  Ste.  Marie  there  was  an  Indian  woman  at  the 
point  of  death  who  desired  to  see  him.  He  took  a  guide 
and  went  to  the  woman.  They  found  that  she  had 
been  afflicted  with  a  disease  for  three  weeks  and  was 
now  stretched  out  by  the  fire  in  the  manner  in  which 
the  savages  placed  their  sick  when  their  cases  became 
hopeless.  He  instructed  her  in  the  truths  of  religion 
as  well  as  he  could  and  prayed  for  her,  and  left  her  a 
cross  to  hang  about  her  neck.  The  next  day  he  returned 
and  found  her  well  and  happy  and  engaged  in  heavy 
work  carrying  burdens. 

A  second  happened  at  Pentagoet  (the  Penobscot 
River).  Father  Biard  was  there  in  company  with  the 
Sieur  de  Biencourt,  and  according  to  his  custom  was 
visiting  the  sick.  The  Indians  showed  him  one  who 
was  not  expected  to  live,  having  been  sick  for  three 
monthsr  This  Indian  was  in  the  thoeres  of  a  violent 
attack,  speaking  only  with  difficulty  and  bathed  in  a 
cold  perspiration,:  the';  forerunner  of  death.  The  priest 
prayed  for  him  and  had  him  kiss  a  cross,  which  he  left 


ii4  The  Makers  of  Maine 

with  him  and  then  departed.  A  day  or  two  afterwards, 
Biencourt  was  trading  in  his  boat,  and  this  Indian  came 
to  him  in  company  with  others,  and  was  well  and  happy 
displaying  his  cross,  and  with  great  demonstrations 
of  joy  expressed  his  gratitude  to  Father  Biard. 

The  third  is  as  follows:  Father  Biard  went  with 
Sieur  de  la  Motte  to  St.  Saveur.  Coming  towards  the 
cabins  of  the  Indians  they  heard  cries  and  loud  lamen- 
tations. Having  asked  their  guide  what  it  meant  he 
replied  that  some  one  was  dead  and  this  was  the  mourn- 
ing. Approaching  nearer  they  met  a  boy  who  said 
to  the  preist:  "Someone  is  dying.  Run  fast,  perhaps 
you  can  baptize  him  before  he  really  dies."  They  ran 
as  fast  as  they  could,  and  when  they  arrived  they  found 
the  savages  drawn  up  in  a  line  as  if  on  parade,  and  in 
front  of  them  walked  a  distracted  father  holding  his 
dying  child  in  his  arms.  Father  Biard  asked  the  father 
if  he  would  be  willing  to  have  his  child  baptized.  The 
poor  simple  fellow  said  not  a  word,  but  placed  the  child 
in  the  priest's  arms.  Father  Biard  called  for  water  at 
once,  and  putting  the  child  in  the  arms  of  Sieur  de  la 
Motte,  as  his  godfather,  baptized  him,  calling  him 
Nickolas.  the  name  of  the  Sieur.  The  Indians  crowded 
around  in  silence  as  if  expecting  some  great  miracle 
to  follow.  Father  Biard  prayed  to  God  that  these 
poor  heathens  might  be  enlightened,  and  then  he  gave 
the  child  to  its  mother  who  was  there.  The  mother 
immediately  offered  the  child  the  breast,  and  he  began 
at  once  to  receive  nourishment.  The  savages  fell  to 
their  knees  in  astonishment,  The  child  recovered 
rapidly  and  in  a  month  was  perfectly  healthy.  The 
Indians  looked  upon  Father  Biard  as  more  than  a  man. 

Is  it  at  all  doubtful,  then,  that  Father  Biard  was 
telling  the  litteral  truth  when  he  wrote,  speaking  of 
what    results    had    been    accomplished    by    the    Jesuit 


Miracles  in  Maine  m 

m  issionaries  in  their  sojourn  at  Port  Royal  and  their 
travels  and  work  among  the  Indians  in  Acadia  and 
Maine  up  to  the  time  of  the  destruction  of  St.  Saveur 
and  Port  Royal  by  Argall  and  his  Englishmen? — 

"But  yet,  on  the  other  hand,  it  is  a  great  result 
that  the  French  have  won  the  confidence  and  friendli- 
ness of  the  savages,  through  the  great  familiarity  and 
intercourse  which  they  have  had  with  them.  For 
the  foundation  must  always  be  laid  before  raising  the 
capital;  that  is,  we  must  make  them  citizens,  or  good 
hosts  and  friends  before  making  them  brothers.  Now 
this  confidence  and  this  intimacy  is  already  so  great  that 
we  live  among  them  with  less  fear  than  we  live  in  Paris. 
For  in  Paris  we  cannot  sleep  without  having  the  door 
well  bolted;  but  here  we  close  them  against  the  wind 
only,  and  sleep  no  less  securely  for  keeping  them  open. 
At  first,  they  fled  from  us,  and  feared  us;  now  they  wish 
us  with  them.  When  we  first  disembarked  and  visited 
St.  Saveur,  and  pretended  that  we  did  not  like  the  place, 
and  that  we  thought  of  going  elsewhere,  these  simple 
natives  wept  and  lamented.  On  the  other  hand,  the 
Sagamore  of  Kadesquit,  called  Betsabes,  came  to  per- 
suade us,  with  a  thousand  promises,  to  go  to  his  place, 
having  heard  that  we  had  some  intentions  of  making 
a  settlement  there.  Is  it  a  small  thing  to  have  such 
a  foundation  of  justice  in  our  colonies,  and  this  so  sure 
pledge  of  great  success ?|£  And  we  must  not  conclude 
that  other  nations  have  borne  this  friendship  as  well 
as  we,  for  we  are  eye-witnesses  to  the  fact  that  these 
savages,  having,  (as  they  supposed)  some  advantage 
over  the  English,  threw  themselves  upon?  them  with, 
fury,  thinking,  I  believe,  to  get  revenge  for  the  injury 
that  had  been  done  to  us;  but  they;  were  not  successful 
in  their  attack.  Likewise,*  towards  the  end  of  the  year 
1611,  the  Hollanders  merely  wished  to  land  at  Cape  de 


136  The  Makers  of  Maine 

la'  Heve  to  take  in  some  fresh  water,  our  savages  assailed 
them  fiercely,  and  made  away  with  six  of  them,  among 
whom  was  the  captian  of  the  ship.  It  seems  to  me  that 
we  will  be  unworthy  of  this  friendship,  if  we  do  not  so 
act  that  it  will  avail  them  in  learning  to  love  Him  from 
Whom  we  receive  all  our  blessings." 

In  closing  this  discussion  and  narration  of  the  Port 
Royal  mission  of  the  French,  which,  as  I  have  stated 
many  times  (because  I  desire  the  reader  to  bear  it 
in  mind  continually),  included  what  is  now  the  State 
of  Maine,  or  at  least  by  admission  of  the  English  them- 
selves, all  of  Maine  as  far  to  the  West  as  the  Kennebec 
and  Androscoggin  rivers,  I  will  briefly  mention  the 
leading  points  of  the  argument  of  Father  Biard  sustaining 
the  contention  to  the  title  of  that  French  to  Maine  is 
far  better  than  the  title  of  the  English.  Later,  in  dis- 
cussing the  English  claims  to  title,  I  shall  have  occasion 
to  again  refer  to  this  argument  (a  Jesuit  argument 
and  therefore  a  diabolically  ingenious  distortion  of  lo- 
gic according  to  the  deluded  and  misled  descendants 
of  the  Puritans  of  New  England.) 

The  English  (so  says  Father  Biard)  do  not  dispute 
with  the  French  all  of  New  France.  They  grant  a  New 
France  bounded  by  the  shores  of  the  Gulf  and  River  of 
St.  Lawrence,  and  not  extending  further  South  than  a 
line  drawn  across  the  northern  part  of  the  State  running 
through  what  is  now  Frederickton,  N.  B.,  Houlton 
Me.,  Mt.  Katahdin  and  the  northern  shores  of  Moose- 
head  Lake;  the  English  claiming  these  bounds,  at  the 
time  Father  Biard  wrote,  by  a  patent  of  King  James' 
grant,  whose  words  are  these:  "We  give  them  all  the 
lands  up  to  the  45th  degree  which  do  not  actually  be- 
long to  any  Christian  Prince."  At  that  very  time  the 
French  were  in  possession  of  this  region,  as  is  attested 
by  the  writings  of  Champlain  and  Lescarbot. 


Miracles  In  Maine  137 

Now,  says  Father  Biard,  it  is  true  and  acknowledged 
by  all  that  the  Bretons  and  Normans  first  discovered 
the  great  Banks  and  New  Foundland  in  the  year  1504 
and  continually  fished  and  traded  there  ever  after- 
wards. 

In  addition,  Fr.  Biard  claims  by  reason  of  Jacques 
Cartier's  voyages  and  discoveries,  and  argues  that  if 
the  English  contention  is  correct,  that  their  sailing 
u  p  the  James  River  of  Virginia  gave  them  dominion  over 
a  region,  not  merely  seven  or  eight  leagues  on  each  side 
of  the  river,  but  thirty  or  forty  times  further  than  the 
human  eye  can  see,  then  Cartier's  last  voyage  in  1534 
up  the  St.  Lawrence  gave  the  French  an  equally  sound 
claim  to  the  same  amount  of  territory  on  each  side  of 
the  St.  Lawrence. 

Also,  employing  and  invoking  the  argument  of 
common  knowledge  and  common  consent  of  the  world, 
Father  Biard  argues  that  all  the  maps  in  Europe  repre- 
sented New  France  as  extending  south  as  far  as  the 
38th  or  39th  parallel,  that  is,  to  the  southern  part  of  New 
England,  to  Long  Island  Sound. 

This  chapter  closes  the  story  of  the  first  Maine 
mission.  In  other  essays  I  shall  take  up  the  thread 
of  the  English  settlements  and  the  writings  of  the 
Englishmen  which  throw  light  upon  this  period  of 
Maine  history,  so  that  the  reader  may  compare  the  two 
peoples  and  their  records  in  Maine.  And  we  shall  try 
to  look  at  the  history  of  this  epoch  of  stirring  time  and 
stirring  deeds  through  the  eyes  of  the  adventurous 
Englishmen  who  were  struggling  to  get  a  foot-hold  upon 
this  much  sought,  much  desired  domain.  Again,  later 
we  will  come  back  to  the  French  and  their  missionary 
priests     in     Maine      at     a     somewhat     later    period. 


CHAPTER  XIX 

Weymouth's  Voyage— He  Captures 
Some  Indians 

In  the  first  chapter  which  I  wrote  on  this  subject 
I  mentioned  the  voyage  of  Captain  Waymouth,  the 
Englishman,  to  these  shores,  in  the  year  1605,  and 
in  speaking  of  the  romantic  scenery  of  Maine,  so  little 
appreciated  by  the  present  inhabitants  of  this  state,  I 
quoted  from  Rosier  (historian  of  Waymouth 's  voyage) 
the  description  of  the  scenery  on  and  about  the  Ken- 
nebec. Waymouth 's  voyage  in  1605  is  of  some  im- 
portance in  the  history  of  the  English  settlements  in 
Maine  and  the  English  claim  of  title;  therefore,  I  de- 
sire to  treat  of  it  now  at  greater  length. 

Captain  Waymouth  was  a  British  naval  officer  who 
had  been  engaged  for  some  time  prior  to  his  voyage  to 
Maine  in  the  unavailing  search  for  the  famous  north- 
west passage  to  India.  Upon  his  return  from  the  Arc- 
tic regions  he  was  engaged  to  undertake  another  voyage 
ostensibly  for  the  same  purpose,  but  actually  for  the 
purpose  of  finding  some  spot  suitable  for  the  establish- 
ing of  an  English  colon}.  It  may  seem  strange  to 
my  readers  that  there  should  have  been  any  necessity 
for  concealing  the  object  of  such  a  voyage,  but  the  fact 
is  that  at  that  time  there  existed  such  a  jealousy  among 
the  maritime  nations  of  Europe,  that  these  enterprises 
of  discovery  were  conducted  with  the  most  profound 
secrecy. 

It  was  a  part  of  Captain  Waymouth's  duty  to  keep 


Waymouth's  Voyage  139 

a  diary,  or  "log,"  of  his  voyage — nautical  statistics, 
observations,  and  all  the  facts  necessary  to  give  his 
employers  full  information  of  the  value  of  his  discover- 
ies. This  journal  was  kept  by  James  Rosier.  And  so, 
as  we  got  our  facts  for  the  story  of  the  French  settle- 
ment of  Acadia,  our  historical  data,  from  the  "Rela- 
tions des  Jesuites" — daily  narrations  of  the  life  of  the 
French  adventurers  and  their  missionary  priests,  now 
we  get  our  facts  for  the  history  of  the  doings  of  these 
Englishmen  from  an  equally  reliable  original  source, — 
Rosier's  Journal  of  Waymouth's  Voyage. 

For  a  long  time  it  was  believed  thatWaymouth 
sailed  up  the  Penobscot  River;  but  I  think  that  it  is 
now  quite  universally  admitted  that  that  belief  was 
erroneous,  and  that  the  truth  is  that  he  explored  the 
Sagadahoc  and  the  Androscoggin. 

Mr.  George  Prince,  the  historian,  in  his  edition  of 
Rosier's  Narrative  of  Waymouth's  Voyage,  argues  that 
Waymouth  sailed  up  the  Georges  River;  his  strongest 
objection  to  the  Kennebec  is  that  the  mountains  which 
the  voyagers  saw  from  the  coast  could  not  have  been 
the  White  Mountains;  but  must  have  been  the  high 
hills  back  of  Camden.  His  argument  does  not  ap- 
peal to  me  as  being  convincing. 

His  ship,  the  "Archangel,"  was  fitted  out  by  the 
Earl  of  Southampton  and  Lord  Arundel,  and  sailed 
from  England  March  5th,  1605.  On  the  17th  of  May 
they  discovered  Mongehan  Island,  which  they  named 
St.  George's,  and  anchored  on  the  north  side  of  the 
island.  I  think  all  the  readers  of  these  essays  are  fa- 
miliar with  the  location  on  the  map  of  Monhegan.  It 
is  well  known  as  a  summer  resort  at  the  present  time. 
Rosier  says:  "From  this  point  we  might  discern  the 
mainland  from  the  west,  southwest,  to  the  east,  north- 
east; and  a  great  way  (as  it  then  seemed,  and  we  after- 


140  The  Makers  of  Maine 

wards  found  it)  up  into  the  main  we  might  discern  very 
high  mountains,  though  the  main  seemed  but  lowland." 
Now  it  will  be  noticed  that  the  writer  does  not  give  the 
course  as  to  the  direction  of  these  very  high  mountains; 
and  without  doubt  for  a  purpose,  because  as  I  have 
stated,  it  was  the  intention  of  the  promoters  of  the 
voyage  to  publish  the  journal  and  thereby  to  arouse 
interest  in  England  and  to  induce  emigration,  but  it 
was  not  their  intention  to  inform  the  world  of  the  exact 
location  of  their  proposed  settlement  until  the  time  was 
ripe  for  so  doing.  But  these  Englishmen  were  familiar 
enough  with  high  hills  and  with  mountains  in  the 
British  Isles,  so  that  they  would  not  be  so  impressed  by 
the  Penobscot  and  Camden  hills  as  to  dignify  them  by 
the  expression  "very  high  mountains."  Is  it  at  all 
unlikely  that  the  very  high  mountains  that  they  saw  in 
the  distance  were  the  White  Mountains  of  New  Hamp- 
shire? Especially  when  we  ourselves  know  that  the 
White  mountains  can  be  distinctly  seen  on  a  clear  day 
from  off  the  coast  of  Maine. 

"The  next  day  being  Whitsunday,"  says  the  his- 
torian, "because  we  rode  too  much  open  to  the  sea  and 
winds,  we  weighed  anchor  about  twelve  o'clock,  and 
came  along  to  the  other  islands  more  adjoining  to  the 
main,  and  in  the  road  directly  with  the  mountains, 
about  three  leagues  from  the  first  island  where  we  had 
anchored."  If  they  proceeded  towards  the  shore  in 
the  direction  of  the  White  Mountains  until  they  "came 
along  to  other  islands  more  adjoining  to  the  main," 
then  they  came  along  to  what  is  now  Squirrel  Island 
and  the  other  islands,  in  that  neighborhood  which  are 
now  summer  resorts.  "We  all  praised  God,"  says 
Rosier,  "for  his  unspeakable  goodness  in  directing  us 
into  so  secure  a  harbor;  in  remembrance  whereof,  we 
named  it  Pentecost  Harbor."     This  "Pentecost  Harbor" 


Waymouth's  Voyage  hi 

is  nothing  else  than  our  Boothbay  Harbor.  A  sig- 
nificent  evidence  of  this  is  that  they  relate  that  when 
they  surveyed  all  the  islands  about  they  found  upon 
one  of  them  a  sandy  cover  where  small  vessels  could  an- 
chor, and  near  by,  a  pond  of  fresh  water  which  flowed 
over  the  bank.  This  description  fits  Squirrel  Island 
perfectly. 

On  Thursday,  May  30th,  Captain  Waymouth  took 
a  boat  and  thirteen  men  and  started  on  a  tour  of  dis- 
covery, leaving  fourteen  men  on  board  the  ship.  After 
their  departure,  three  canoes  with  Indians  came  down 
to  the  ship.  The  Indians  were  invited  on  board, 
they  came  and  traded  with  the  Englishmen.  The  next 
day  Waymouth  returned  and  reported  with  /great  ela- 
tion that  he  had  discovered  "a  great  river  which  trended 
into  the  main  about  forty  miles,"  an  excellent  river, 
suitable  for  trade  and  commerce  and  for  the  establish- 
ing of  a  colony. 

Now  comes  the  narration  of  the  despicable  act  of 
kidnapping  the  Indians.  Before  starting  out  on  the 
voyage,  of  exploration  up  the  river  which  the  Captain 
discovered,  he  formed  the  resolution  to  take  with  him 
back  to  England  when  he  returned,  five  or  six  of  the 
natives,  that  "they  might  be  taught  habits  of  civiliza- 
tion." We  know  very  well  that  he  never  was  actuated 
by  any  such  phlanthropic  motives;  that  his  intention 
was  to  exhibit  them  as  curiosities  to  the  English  people 
and  thereby  to  help  in  arousing  interest  in  this  new  field 
for  English  adventure.  And  that  he  succeeded  in 
arousing  some  kind  of  interest  in  England  with  his  Indian 
savages  is  attested  by  no  less  an  authority  than  Shakes- 
peare, himself,  who  says  in  the  Tempest,  Act  II,  Sec.  2 
— "when  they  would  not  give  a  doit  to  relieve  a  lame 
beggar,  they  would  lay  out  ten  to  see  a  dead  Indian." 
It  seems  that  these  Englishmen  had  a  comfortable  way 


142  The  Makers  of  Maine 

of  saving  the  Indian's  soul  and  making  money  with 
his  body,  like  the  pious  Pilgrims  afterwards  at  Ply- 
mouth, who  wrote  home  to  their  brethren  in  England 
and  Holland,  urging  them  to  come  out  to  this  country 
where  much  heavenly  credit  could  be  stored  up  for 
the  life  in  the  next  world  and  "muche  gainful  plunder" 
could  be  accumulated  for  the  present  life.  Three  of 
these  Indian  "guests"  were  sent  to  Sir  Ferdinando 
Gorges,  Governor  of  Plymouth  in  England;  and  al- 
though we  have  the  greatest  respect  for  the  memory  of 
this  energetic  patron  of  the  English  colonists  in  New 
England  for  his  disinterested  efforts  in  their  behalf,  yet 
we  feel  inclined  to  skeptically  smile  when  Gorges 
writes, — "this  accident  must  be  acknowledged  the 
means  under  God  of  putting  on  foot  and  giving  life  to 
all  our  plantations." 

Rosier  writes  that  one  morning  an  Indian  of  super- 
ior rank  appeared,  coming  from  the  eastward  and  with 
him  in  the  canoe  were  six  others.  They  brought  an 
invitation  from  the  Bashaba  at  Penobscot  for  Captain 
Waymouth  to  come  there  and  trade;  but  the  Captain 
had  strong  suspicions  that  their  design  was  to  rescue 
the  five  whom  he  had  secreted  in  the  hold  of  his  ship, 
so  their  presence  on  board  was  not  encouraged. 

On  Tuesday,  June  11th,  they  passed  up  the  river 
with  the  ship  about  twenty-six  miles.  This  would 
bring  them  to  anchor  just  opposite  the  present  city  of 
Bath.  In  the  first  chapter  I  have  quoted  Rosier's  de- 
scription of  the  sail  up  the  river  which  he  maintains 
to  be  superior  in  every  respect  to  the  Loire,  the  Seine, 
the  Bordeaux,  and  the  Rio  Grande.  Going  ashore 
for  a  time,  he  says:  "In  our  progress  we  passed  over 
very  good  ground,  pleasant  and  fertile,  fit  for  pasture, 
for  the  space  of  some  three  miles,  having  but  little  wood, 
and  that  oak,  like  that  which  stands  left  in  our  pasture 


Waymouth's  Voyage  143 

in  England,  good  and  great,  fit  timber  for  any  use. 
It  resembled  a  stately  park  with  many  old  trees,  some 
with  withered  tops,  and  some  flourishing  with  their 
green  boughs." 

Now,  it  is  a  strange  thing,  that  during  this  "very 
summer  of  1605,  while  Captain  Waymouth  was  ex- 
ploring the  coast  and  the  river  at  this  point,  the  French 
expedition  of  De  Monts,  with  Champlain  and  Les- 
carbot  and  the  other  French  gentlemen,  was  exploring 
the  very  same  territory,  as  I  have  stated  in  detail  be- 
fore. It  would  seem  as  though,  if  they  had  not  met, 
they  might  at  least  have  come  across  some  signs  of 
each  other's  presence.  But  Rosier  says:  "For  this, 
by  the  way,  we  diligently  observed  that  no  place 
either  about  the  island  or  up  in  the  main,  or  along 
the  river,  we  could  discover  any  token  or  sign  that  ever 
any  Christian  has  been  before,  or  which  either  by  cutting 
wood,  or  digging  for  water,  or  setting  up  crosses,  a  thing 
never  omitted  by  any  Christian  traveller,  we  should 
have  seen  some  mention  of  it."  Is  he  telling  the 
truth?  It  may  be.  For  I  may  mention  here  that  the 
English  then,  and  for  a  long  time  afterwards  had  a 
mistaken  notion  of  the  Kennebec  River,  a  mistake 
which  the  French  did  not  make.  Waymouth,  going 
up  the  river  from  Boothbay  Harbor  to  M err ymee ting 
Bay,  and  then  continuing,  from  there  goes  to  the  west 
up  the  Androscoggin,  thinking  that  it  is  the  same  river, 
quite  ignorant  of  the  real  Kennebec  which  is  closed 
from  view  by  the  projecting  of  a  long  neck  of  land. 
Neither  Waymouth  nor  George  Popham  knew  of  such 
a  river  although  they  had  been  told  of  it  by  the  Indians. 

Waymouth  went  up  the  Androscoggin,  first  to  the 
falls  at  what  is  now  Brunswick.  Rosier  says,  in  regard 
to  the  beauty  of  the  river:  "I  cannot  by  relation  suf- 
ficiently demonstrate.     That  which  I  can  say  in  general 


144  The  Makers  of  Maine 

is  this:  what  profit  or  pleasure  soever  is  described  and 
truly  verified  in  the  former  part  of  the  river,  is  wholly 
doubled  in  this." 

On  the  16th  of  June  they  set  sail  for  their  return 
to  England  and  July  18th  they  arrived  at  Dartmouth 
harbor,  with  their  furs  and  skins,  their  five  Indians, 
and  their  glowing  accounts  of  the  country.  At  about 
the  same  time  of  their  arrival  in  England,  Lord  Arun- 
del and  the  Earl  of  Southampton  transferred  their 
interests  in  the  expedition  to  Lord  Chief  Justice  Popham 
and  Sir  Ferdinando  Gorges,  two  gentlemen  who  were 
well  and  favorably  known  in  England  at  the  time, 
and  whose  names  have  figured  prominently  in  history 
ever  since.  The  new  company  petitioned  the  Crown 
for  Letters  Patent,  and  a  charter  was  granted  for  two 
colonies,  the  London  Company  and  the  Plymouth 
Company;  also  called  the  South  Virginia  and  the  North 
Virginia  Companies.  The  London,  or  South  Virginia 
Company,  established  the  Jamestown,  Virginia,  Colony, 
April  27th,  1607.  Thus  we  see  that  we  sons  of  Maine 
are  able  to  say  with  perfect  truth  and  without  exagger- 
ation that  the  attractive  scenery,  the  fertile  soil,  and  the 
natural  resources  of  the  country  about  the  Sagadahoc 
and  the  Androscoggin  Rivers,  so  glowingly  described 
by  Captain  Waymouth  and  his  companions,  were 
the  magnets  which  drew  Englishmen  across  the  ocean 
and  caused  the  establishment  of  the  ancient  and  proud 
Virginia  Colony,  and  that  Maine,  so  falsely  called  "the 
daughter  of  Masachusetts,"  is  really,  in  fact,  the  cause 
of  the  existence  of  all  the  thirteen  original  colonies  of 
America,  in  a  way,  the  Father  of  the  great  English- 
speaking  American  nation.  You  may  call  this  exag- 
geration, if  you  will.  You  may  say  that  it  is  taking 
a  violent  poetic  license  with  sober  history;  that  it  is 
allowing  imagination  to  run  riot  with  judgement.     But 


Waymouth's  Voyage  145 

I  hold  to  my  opinion,  nevertheless,  that  giving  credit 
honestly  to  cause  and  effect,  I  have  made  no  exaggera- 
tion. 


CHAPTER  XX 

Strange  ill-luck  Pursues  the  English 
Efforts  to  Colonize  Maine 

The  South  Virginia,  or  London  Company  expedi- 
tion was  a  success  and  Jamestown,  Virginia,  was  the 
result.  But  strange  mishaps  befell  the  ships  first  sent 
out  to  found  the  northern  colony,  which  was 
to  be  establishd  in  the  region  explored  by  Waymouth. 
The  first  ship  sent  out  was  commanded  by  Captain 
Chalounge.  The  colony  was  placed  on  board,  and  also 
two  of  Waymouth's  Indian  "guests"  to  act  as  pilots 
when  they  arrived  at  the  shores  of  Maine.  But  ill- 
luck,  or  perhaps  (who  knows)  the  judgement  of  Divine 
Providence,  offended  by  the  Englishmen's  inhumanity, 
seems  to  have  pursued  every  attempt  to  establish  an 
English  colony  in  Maine,  every  attempt  that  is  to  say, 
with  which  the  fact  of  the  stolen  Indians  was  in  any 
way  connected.  As  for  instance,  witness  the  following: 
The  ship  commanded  by  Captain  Chalounge  was  under 
orders  to  follow  a  due  westerly  course  to  Cape  Breton, 
and  then  to  set  the  course  for  the  Sagadahoc.  But 
Captain  Chalounge,  without  cause,  disobeyed  orders, 
and  changed  his  course  to  go  by  way  of  the  Western 
Islands.  He  was  captured  by  a  Spanish  fleet,  his  crew 
and  the  colonists  made  prisoners,  and  the  object  of  the 
voyage  was  frustrated.  Two  of  Waymouth's  Indians,  as 
I  have  said,  were  on  board  this  vessel. 

Second  instance:  J\  few  days  after  Chalounge  sailed, 
Lord  Chief  Justice  Popham  fitted  out  another  ship  as 


Ill-Luck  of  English  Colonists  147 

aid  for  the  first,  with  a  few  more  colonists  and  ad- 
ditional supplies.  On  board  were  two  more  of  ^Way- 
mouth's  Indians.  This  ship  sailed  direct  to  Sagadahoc. 
Of  course,  upon  their  arrival  they  found  no  signs  of  Cap- 
tain Chalounge's  company,  consequently  they  elected  to 
return  to  England.  But  the  Plymouth,  or  North  Vir- 
ginia Company  was  so  much  encouraged  by  the  glow- 
ing descriptions  of  the  members  of  this  expedition,  even 
more  favorable  than  the  report  of  Captain  Waymouth, 
that  it  fitted  out  two  more  vessels,  one  commanded  by 
George  Popham,  brother  of  the  Lord  Chief  Justice, 
and  the  other  commanded  by  Raleigh  Gilbert,  nephew 
of  Sir  Walter  Raleigh — "two  as  noble  and  gallant  com- 
manders as  ever  faced  the  dangers  of  the  elements  Tor 
of  man,"  (to  borrow  the  words  of  an  enthusiastic 
writer.)  This  expedition  also  carried  two  of  Way- 
mouth's  Indians. 

Now  it  would  seem  as  though  at  last  success  would 
crown  their  efforts.  But  their  record  is  one  of  disaster 
and  failure.  They  sailed  from  Plymouth,  England, 
May  31st,  1607.  On  August  17th  they  barely  escaped 
destruction  on  the  lee  shore  of  Seguin.  They  landed 
at  the  mouth  of  the  Kennebec,  at  the  spot  where  Fort 
Popham  now  stands.  They  spent  one  year  there  but 
the  winter  was  one  of  extraordinary  severity.  Their 
governor,  George  Popham,  died.  Raleigh  Gilbert  re- 
turned to  England.  The  colony  was  left  without  a 
head.  The  members  became  disheartened  and  dis- 
couraged. They  broke  up  and  dispersed.  Some  re- 
turned to  England,  some  went  to  Virginia,  and  there  is 
a  French  tradition  to  the  effect  that  some  made  their 
way  to  the  neighboring  regions  of  Monhegan  and  Pem- 
aquid. 

It  seems  that  these  settlers  explored  the  valley  of 
the  Androscoggin  for  some  distance.     They  relate  that 


148  The  Makers  of  Maine 

on  the  25th  of  September,  1607,  Captain  Gilbert  with 
seventeen  men  left  the  mouth  of  the  river  to  search 
for  the  headwaters  of  the  Sagadahoc.  They  came  to 
a  flat,  low  island,  "where  was  a  great  cataract  or  down- 
fall of  water,  which  runneth  by  on  both  sides  of  the 
island,  very  shoal  and  swift,"  This  description  fits 
Pejepscot  Falls  at  Brunswick.  They  carried  their 
boat  around  the  falls  and  went  a  league  further  up  and 
camped  for  the  night.  The  next  day  they  went  another 
league  and  could  go  no  further  on  account  of  the  falls. 
This  can  be  no  other  than  the  Little  River  Falls  at  Lis- 
bon. Some  of  them  went  further  by  land  till  they 
came  to  an  Indian  settlement  at  the  junction  of  a  small 
river.  This  corresponds  to  the  Sabattus  River.  Here 
they  erected  a  cross. 

Although  this  Popham  and  Gilbert  colony  for  a 
year  cannot  be  counted  as  a  permanent  settlement  in 
Maine,  as  the  Jamestown  settlement  is  counted  in  Vir- 
ginia yet  as  a  political  event,  its  importance  can  not 
be  overestimated.  I  have  stated  in  this  essay  that  the 
voyage  of  Waymouth  in  1605  was  the  means  of  estab- 
lishing the  first  English  colony  on  the  American  conti- 
nent. Now  I  will  say  that  the  Popham  and  Gilbert 
colony  on  the  Sagadahoc  was  the  means  of  establishing 
the  title  of  England  as  against  France  to  the  whole 
New  England  territory.  Without  this  colony  it  would 
have  been  impossible  for  England,  under  her  own  laws, 
to  have  made  out  any  claim  to  priority  of  title  to  New 
England.  For  it  was  a  maxim  of  English  law  that 
"prescription  without  possession  does  not  give  title." 
In  the  year  1624  M.  Tillieres,  the  French  Ambassador, 
represented  to  the  English  government  that  France, 
claimed  the  territory  of  New  England  as  a  part  of  New 
France  (and  not  unjustly,  as  I  have  shown  in  a  pre- 
ceding chapter  in  which  I  recited  the  claim  of    France  as 


Ill-Luck  of  English  Colonists  149 

stated  by  Father  Biard.S.  J.)  The  English  government 
made  a  full  reply  to  the  statement  of  the  French  ambas- 
sador, and  in  no  part  of  the  reply  is  any  mention  what- 
soever made  of  the  colony  of  the  Pilgrims  at  Plymouth. 
The  English  argument  is  based  almost  entirely  upon  the 
settlements  at  the  mouth  of  the  Kennebec  in  1607. 

In  addition  it  may  be  said  that,  although  the  set- 
tlement of  1607  did  not  continue  permanently  at  Fort 
Popham,  yet  from  that  year  on  there  was  never  a  time 
when  Englishmen  were  not  living  in  Maine  along  the 
coast  and  for  a  few  miles  inland.  Two  ships  came 
over  in  1607  carrying  the  Popham  colony — the  "Gift 
of  God,"  and  the  "Mary  and  John."  During  the  year 
of  1607,  another  ship  was  built  by  the  colonists  at  Fort 
Popham,  the  "Virginia  of  Sagadahoc,"  which,  by  the 
way,  was  the  first  ship  built  on  this  continent  by  Eng- 
lish hands.  When  the  colonists  at  the  end  of  the  year 
returned  to  England  they  returned  in  the  "Mary  and 
John,"  and  the  "Virginia  of  Sagadahoc."  The  ship 
"Gift  of  God,"  with  forty-five  men,  remained  behind. 
What  became  of  these  men  and  their  ship  is  doubtful, 
but  the  weight  of  evidence  tends  to  prove  that  they 
went  to  Pemaquid  and  Monhegan  and  became  those 
scattered  settlements  of  Englishmen  along  the  coast 
of  Maine  to  whom  the  Pilgrims  at  Plymouth  in  the 
winter  of  1622,  at  the  hour  of  need,  turned  for  food 
to  save  themselves  from  starvation,  and  from  whom 
Winslow  says:  "we  not  only  got  a  present  supply  of 
food,  but  also  learned  the  way  to  those  parts  for  our 
future  benefit. 

In  the  year  1614  Captain  John  Smith,  of  school- 
boy-history fame,  built  seven  fishing  boats  at  Monhe- 
gan, and  while  his  men  went  on  a  fishing  expedition,  he 
himself  explored  the  coast.  He  writes:  "On  this 
voyage  I  tooke  the  description  of  the  coast  as  well  by 


150  The  Makers  of  Maine 

map  as  writing  and  called  it  New  England;  but  mali- 
cious minds  amongst  sailors  and  others,  drowned  that 
name  with  the  echo  of  Nusconcus,  Canaday  and  Pema- 
quid;  till  at  my  humble  suite  our  most  gracious  King 
Charles,  then  Prince  of  Wales,  was  pleased  to  confirm 
it  by  that  title,  and  did  change  the  barbarous  names 
of  their  principal  harbors  and  habitations  for  such 
English,  that  posterity  may  say,  King  Charles  was  their 
Godfather." 

The  names  of  two  great  Christian  men  stand  forth 
in  clear  relief  amidst  the  dimness  and  uncertainty 
of  the  early  history  of  Maine — Samuel  de  Champlain, 
Pioneer  of  New  France, — Sir  Ferdinando  Gorges,  Pio- 
neer of  New  England.  In  imagination  one  can  picture 
each  as  the  embodiment  of  the  highest  type  of  civiliza- 
tion of  his  own  country.  Each  was  inspired  by  a  lofty 
ambition,  by  pure  patriotism,  and  by  a  prophetic  in- 
sight into  the  future.  In  former  chapters  I  have  related 
more  or  less  of  the  adventures  of  Champlain  along 
these  shores,  although  I  have  not  pursued  his  career 
into  Canada,  as,  however  interesting  it  may  be,  it  is 
no  part  of  the  subject  of  history  which  we  are  discussing. 
I  have  called  the  one,  pioneer  of  New  France  and  the 
other  pioneer,  of  New  England.  Of  course,  it  is  under- 
stood that  we  are  speaking  of  the  same  country — what 
is  now  New  England — what  the  French  called  New 
France.  Just  as  the  English  arms  won  and  the  English 
flag  stayed,  so  the  English  name  overcame  the  French 
name  and  remains  the  name  of  the  country  today. 

Gorges  conceived  the  ambition  of  building  up  an 
English  civilization  on  the  shores  of  Maine,  and  amidst 
all  political  distractions  at  home,  he  never  lost  sight  of 
his  ambition,  and  kept  up  a  legal  occupancy  of  Maine. 
Upon  the  return  of  Captain  John  Smith,  after  his  voy- 
age to  Monhegan  in  1614,  Gorges  fitted  out   another 


ILL-LUCK  OF  ENGLISH  COLONISTS  151 

expedition  to  found  another  colony  in  Maine,  this  one 
to  be  headed  and  commanded  by  Smith  himself.  We 
cannot  doubt  that  if  this  colony  had  once  landed  on 
this  shore,  under  the  leadership  of  John  Smith,  neither 
the  severity  of  the  climate  nor  the  enmity  of  the  Indians 
nor  the  encroachments  of  the  French,  would  ever  have 
dislodged  it.  Smith  was  an  indomitable,  a  dauntless 
man.  His  whole  life  is  a  romance  and  this  voyage 
and  expedition  simply  make  another  chapter  of  vivid 
interest.  The  expedition  was  a  failure,  but  through 
no  fault  of  Smith's.  It  seems  as  though  Fate 
were  at  war  with  him,  and  as  though  Fate  were 
forced  to  put  forth  its  best  endeavors  and  strain  itself 
to  defeat  this  hero. 

The  expedition  sailed  in  March  1615;  immediately 
this  was  the  signal  for  all  the  furies  to  be  let  loose.  He  en- 
countered a  terrible  storm  and  was  almost  shipwrecked. 
He  put  back  into  Plymouth  and  sailed  again  in  June  with 
another  ship.  He  was  out  a  few  days  when  he  was  over- 
taken by  an  English  pirate.  His  officers  begged  him  to 
surrender  as  the  pirate  was  of  superior  force.  He  refused ; 
and  without  being  obliged  to  fight  the  pirate,  he  "bluffed" 
him,  as  the  saying  is  now,  and  made  his  escape.  Soon  after 
this  event  he  met  a  French  pirate  in  two  ships.  Again 
his  cowardly  officers  wanted  to  surrender  and  refused 
to  fight.  Smith  threatens  to  blow  up  the  ship  with 
himself  and  all  on  board,  and  attacks  the  French  pirates 
and  drives  them  off.  Next  he  meets  a  fleet  of  French 
war  ships,  nine  of  them.  This  is  too  much  even  for 
John  Smith.  But  again  his  monumental  nerve  and 
bluff  got  him  through  without  surrender;  when  his  offi- 
cers mutiny  and  refuse  to  proceed  with  the  voyage. 
Smith  goes  on  board  the  flag  ship  of  the  French  Admir- 
al, with  no  less  a  purpose  than  to  get  aid  from  the  French 
commander  to  subdue  his  own  mutineers.     But  while 


152  The  Makers  of  maine 

he  was  aboard  talking  with  the  Frenchman  a  strange  sail 
came  into  view  and  the  French  Admiral  gave  chase 
carrying  poor  Smith  along  with  him.  Smith's  ship 
made  its  way  back  to  England  and  reported  Smith 
killed  by  the  French,  to  the  great  despair  of  Gorges. 
But  Smith  is  not  so  easily  put  "hors  du  combat."  He 
was  two  months  a  prisoner  and  forced  to  help  fight  the 
Spaniards.  One  night  while  off  the  coast  of  France  in 
a  terrible  storm  he  jumped  overboard  and  swam  until 
he  was  tossed  up  on  an  island  more  dead  than  alive. 
The  peasants  helped  him  to  get  back  to  England.  And 
strange  to  say,  the  very  night  that  he  escaped  from  the 
French  ship,  this  ship  was  wrecked  in  the  storm  and  all 
hands  were  lost. 


CHAPTER  XXI 

Ferdinando  Gorges  Becomes 
Lord  of  Maine 

In  the  public  school  histories,  used  in  the  schools 
at  the  time  when  the  writer  was  at  the  age  when  it  is 
deemed  fitting  by  the  educational  powers-that-be  to 
inscribe  upon  the  clean  and  fresh  tablets  of  the  minds 
of  the  children  under  their  charge,  misstatement,  mis- 
information, and  distortion  of  facts,  under  the  sacred 
name  of  history,  it  was  related  as  historical  truth,  that 
Massachusetts  was  the  mother  of  Maine,  and  that 
Maine  was  first  settled  in  1630,  at  and  about  the  present 
town  of  York,  in  York  County,  by  immigrants  from 
mother  colony  of  Massachusetts.  No  well  informed 
student  of  history  today  believes  any  such  glaring 
falsehoods.  But  unfortunately  many  citizens  of  Maine 
are  not  as  well  informed  in  history  as  they  should  be; 
many  have  not  progressed  beyond  the  stage  of  the 
above-quoted  public  school  histories. 

I  have  made  it  plain  in  the  preceding  chapters  that 
not  only  was  Maine  settled  before  Massachusetts,  and 
that  settlers  remained  along  the  coast  of  Maine  and 
as  far  inland  as  twenty  to  thirty  miles,  from  the  year 
1607  onward  indefinitely;  but  also  I  have  demonstrated 
that  Waymouth's  voyage  to  the  Kennebec  in  1605, 
and  the  Popham  and  Gilbert  settlement  at  the  mouth 
of  the  Kennebec  in  1607,  were  the  first  movements  of 
the  great  English  influx  of  settlement  which  culmi- 
nated in  the  thirteen  original  American  States,  and 
were  the  prime  causes  of  that  English  immigration. 


154  The  Makers  of  Maine 

The  historians,  who  have  been  looked  upon  as  the 
most  authoritative,  have  ignored  the  importance  of 
Maine  in  Early  history.  Even  Bancroft  does  not 
give  proper  credit  for  the  settlements  before  the  year 
1620  and  onwards  to  1630.  Governor  Sullivan,  how- 
ever, in  his  history  of  Maine,  on  the  authority  of 
Sylvanus  Davis,  Councillor,  says  that  in  1630  there 
were  eighty-four  families,  not  counting  the  fishermen 
at  Merrymeeting  Bay,  Sheepscot  and  Pemaquid,  and 
as  many  more  inland.  Williamson's  History  gives  a 
table  of  the  several  plantations  at  that  time;  in  it  are 
the  following:  Piscataqua  settlement,  200.  York, 
150.  Saco,  175.  Casco  and  Pejepscot  (Brunswick), 
75.  Kennebec,  100.  Sagadahoc,  Sheepscot,  Pema- 
quid, St.  Georges  and  Islands,  500.  From  this  we  can 
see  that  at  the  time  when  we  have  been  led  to  believe 
that  Maine  was  a  barren  wilderness,  inhabited  only 
by  roving  bands  of  Red  Men,  there  were  at  least  1500 
white  people  between  York  and  the  Penobscot  river. 

I  have  said  I  consider  that  history  shows 
that  Sir  Ferdinando  Gorges  was  one  of  the  greatest 
men  of  his  time  in  all  Europe.  Although  he  was  a 
royalist,  a  high-churchman,  and  no  sympathizer  with 
the  peculiar  religious  tenets  of  the  Pilgrims  and  Puri- 
tans, he  saw  that  Maine  was,  and  must  be  fated  to  be 
for  many  years,  the  English  frontier,  and  that  it  must 
be  held  as  a  bulwark  against  the  encroachments  of 
the  French.  He  was  a  broadminded,  liberal,  generous 
man.  He  aided  the  Massachusetts  Puritans  in  every 
possible  way,  although  at  home  he  was  politically  at 
war  with  that  party.  Many  conflicting  grants  had 
been  made  by  the  Crown,  grants  of  land  which  over- 
lapped one  another  and  caused  continual  conflict  and 
litigation.  Therefore  Gorges  made  a  drastic  and  heroic 
move  in  the  game  of  politics. 


Ferdinando  Gorges  155 

In  the  year  1639,  King  Charles  I,  at  the  solicita- 
tion of  his  well  beloved  and  loyal  subject,  Sir  Ferdinando 
Gorges,  granted  the  most  notable  charter  ever  given 
to  a  subject  by  his  Prince  since  the  days  of  chivalry. 
He  confirmed  all  the  territory  from  the  Piscataqua  to 
the  Sagadahoc  and  extending  120  miles  inland,  now  for 
the  first  time  named  and  recognized  legally  as  the 
"Province  of  Maine,"  to  Gorges  as  a  County  Palatine 
of  which  Gorges  was  the  Lord  or  Count  Palatine.  As 
every  student  of  history,  and  especially  of  the  history 
of  feudal  law,  knows,  the  name  "Palatinate"  takes  us 
back  to  the  days  of  Charlmagne  and  the  Merovingians. 
During  the  Middle  Ages  the  title  of  Lord  or  Count 
Palatine  belonged  to  a  feudal  lord  who  held  a  frontier 
province  with  royal  judicial  powers.  It  is  not  neces- 
sary to  enumerate  here  the  powers  of  government  and 
administration  of  justice  which  it  carried.  The  Pala- 
tinate charter  which  Gorges  received  may  be  read  in 
full  in  Sullivan's  History  of  Maine.  Nothing  like  it, 
before  or  since,  is  to  be  found  in  all  the  history  of  the 
American  nation.  By  it  Gorges  became  the  feudal 
lord  of  the  soil  of  Maine,  and  Maine  was  a  fief.  The 
new  Lord  of  Maine  established  his  government  and  set 
up  his  general  court  at  what  is  now  York,  which  he 
named  Georgiana,  and  which  was,  as  I  have  stated  be- 
fore, the  first  incorporated  city  in  America.  This 
court  was  established  in  the  year  1640.  I  have  not 
the  slightest  doubt  that  if  Gorges  could  have  left,  or 
would  but  have  left,  the  life  of  political  turmoil  which 
he  was  living  at  this  time,  and  had  come  over  here  to 
preside  over  his  Province  of  Maine,  his  Fief  or  Pal- 
atinate, he  would  have  made  a  success  of  the  govern- 
ment of  it,  and  Maine  would  never  have  fallen  under 
the  dominion  of  Massachusetts.  But  Gorges  was  a 
devoted  Royalist,  who  followed  his  king  to  the  bitter 


156  The  Makers  of  Maine 

end.  He  died  in  1647;  King  Charles  was  beheaded  in 
1649.  Following  his  death,  of  course  his  little  kingdom 
here  fell  to  pieces.  The  inhabitants  of  Maine  began 
to  quarrel  among  themselves  and  the  quarrels  grew  in 
bitterness.  Massachusetts  looked  on  with  greedy  eyes, 
determined  to  seize  the  Province. 

It  cannot  be  doubted  that  the  predominating  reas- 
on why  Massachusetts,  with  its  semi-religious  govern- 
ment and  its  narrow,  illiberal,  selfish  Puritanism 
would  not,  and  felt  that  it  could  not  permit  the  Pro- 
vince of  Maine  to  exist  any  longer  as  an  independent 
colony,  was  that  the  dominant  turn  of  mind  of  the 
English  settlers  in  Maine  was  Episcopalian,  High 
Church,  Royalist,  rather  easy-going  and  broad  minded, 
and  dangerously  friendly  to  the  French  Roman  Cath- 
olics who  were  their  neighbors  in  the  east.  Randolph's 
report,  1676,  says:  "The  inhabitants  of  New  Hamp- 
shire, Maine,  and  the  Duke's  Province  were  holding 
a  friendly  correspondence  with  their  French  neighbors, 
while  Massachusetts  was  entertaining  a  hatred  towards 
them." 

It  is  easy  to  believe  that,  had  Massachusetts  hon- 
orably left  the  men  of  Maine  alone  to  work  out  their 
own  problem  of  government  in  their  own  way,  the 
High  Church  Englishmen  of  Maine  would  have  given 
to  the  world  an  example  of  religious  liberality  and  pro- 
gressiveness  equalled  only  by  Lord  Baltimore's  Cath- 
olics in  Maryland,  the  first  instance  of  religious  toler- 
ation in  America.  That  my  readers  may  not  think  that 
this  view  is  exaggerated  if  not  chimerical,  let  me  quote 
the  words  of  a  writer  in  the  Boston  Courier  of  May, 
1851 — Lorenzo  Sabine,  who  published  a  series  of  ar- 
ticles on  the  Public  Lands  of  Maine.  Sabine  says: 
"But  I  cannot  leave  this  part  of  the  subject  without 
commending   the  indomitable  spirit   evinced   by   Mas- 


Ferdinando  Gorges  157 

sachusetts  in  her  struggles  to  root  out  Gorges  and  the 
cavaliers  of  his  planting,  out  of  Maine,  and  to  put ;  in 
their  places  the  humbler  but  purer  Roundheads  of  her 
own  kindred.  Had  she  faltered  when  dukes  and  lords 
signed  parchments  that  conveyed  away  her  soil;  had 
she  not  sought  to  push  her  sovereignity  over  men  and 
territories  not  originally  her  own;  had  she  not  broken 
down  French  seignories  and  English  fiefdoms,  Maine, 
east  of  Gorges'  eastern  boundary,  the  Kennebec, 
might  have  continued  a  part  of  the  British  Empire  to 
this  hour."  It  is  hard  to  conceive  that  fifty  years 
ago  such  sentiments  were  entertained.  The  logic  of 
the  writer's  argument  deserves  about  as  much  respect 
as  his  sympathetic  view  of  the  compatriots  of  those 
regicides,  whom  he  calls  "the  humbler  but  purer 
Roundheads." 

After  the  death  of  Sir  Ferdinando  Gorges,  1647, 
the  people  of  Maine,  and  by  this  expression  is  meant 
the  English  settlers,  seemed  to  lose  heart  and  confi- 
dence in  their  future,  and  in  themselves.  They  appear 
to  have  lacked  independence  and  self-reliance.  One 
might  almost  imagine  that  the  "fief,"  the  Palatinate 
of  Maine  was  taken  seriously  and  deeply  to  heart,  and 
that  the  people  had  become  in  fact  and  in  truth  serfs, 
unable  to  govern  themselves  and  dependent  upon  some 
feudal  lord  to  govern  them.  And  as  a  matter  of  fact, 
when  the  High  Court  of  Chancery  in  England  in  the 
year  1677  rendered  a  decision  that  the  acts  of  Massachu- 
setts in  taking  military  possession  of  Maine  were 
illegal,  and  that  the  Province  of  Maine  had  descended 
as  a  fief  to  the  heirs  of  Gorges,  and  when  Massachusetts 
in  obedience  to  that  decision  purchased  Maine  outright, 
both  soil  and  government,  from  the  Gorges  heirs,  for 
the  sum  of  1250  pounds  sterling,  then  Massachusetts 
became  the  feudal   Lord-Palatine  of   the   Province  of 


158  The  Makers  of  Maine 

Maine — another  strange  anamoly  in  the  history  of  this 
country.  It  was  poetic  justice  that  the  people  of  this 
Province  should  have  become  the  personal  property  of 
the  Massachusetts  colony.  Before  they  were  purchased 
for  1250  pounds  they  were  continually  petitioning 
somebody  else  to  come  and  govern   them. 

Hubbard,  a  minister  of  Cambridge,  in  his  "Gener- 
al History  of  New  England,"  written  in  1680 — ,  (a  rare 
and  curious  narrative,  and  not  characterized  by  any 
amount  of  fairness  and  impartiality)  says:  "But,  in 
fine,  the  inhabitants  of  all  these  Plantations  at  Piscata- 
qua  and  in  the  Province  of  Maine,  having  wearied 
themselves  with  endless  contentions  and  strifes,  and 
having  tried  all  conclusions  of  government,  both  by 
patent  and  combination,  and  finding  neither  sufficient, 
in  any  tolerable  degree  of  comfortable  order,  to  main- 
tain and  support  the  grandeur  of  authority,  like  those 
mentioned  in  the  Prophet,  'they  took  hold  of  the  skirt 
of  Massachusetts.'  " 

I  have  stated  in  the  last  chapter  that  beginning  with 
the  time  of  the  grant  of  this  region  to  Sir  Ferdinando 
Gorges  as  a  County  Pelatine,  Maine  was  known  as 
the  "Province  of  Maine,"  and  continued  to  be  called 
by  that  title  during  the  many  years  that  it  was  subject 
to  the  government  of  Massachusetts.  It  is  time  now 
that  I  call  attention  to  the  very  common  mistake  and 
misunderstanding  which  has  obtained  for  many  years 
and  which  still  obtains.  There  is  a  belief  quite  gener- 
ally held  that  the  name  Maine  is  of  French  origin;  and 
this  delusion  is  held  all  the  more  dear  by  those  students 
of  history  whose  sympathies  are  with  the  claims  of  the 
first  French  settlers  to  the  soil  of  Maine  and  who  believe 
(as  I  do  myself)  that  the  claim  of  France  to  this  terri- 
tory was  sounder  in  international  law  and  more  just 
than   was   the   claim   of   England.     But,    nevertheless, 


Ferdinando  Gorges  159 

it  is  not  true  that  this  territory  was  named  Maine  in 
honor  of  Henrietta  Maria,  wife  of  King  Charles  I,  who 
had  as  a  dower  the  Province  of  Maine  in  France.  In  the 
first  place  the  French  princess  was  not  possessed  of  the 
Province  of  Maine  in  France,  for  that  Province  belonged 
to  the  Crown.  And  in  the  second  place,  those  who 
accept  the  explanation  of  the  na  ne  as  of  French  origin 
lose  sight  of  the  fact  that  great  changes  have  taken 
place  in  English  spelling  since  the  first  half  of  the  seven- 
teenth century.  And  especially  is  this  true  in  the  matter 
of  the  final  "e"  on  adjectives  and  nouns  in  the  language. 
Many  adjectives  were  once  spelled  with  a  final  "e" 
which  are  not  so  spelled  now,  and  vice  versa.  And 
the  same  may  be  said  of  nouns.  It  is  in  contradis- 
tinction to  the  al  nost  innumerable  number  of  islands 
along  the  coast,  which  were  much  frequented  long  before 
the  mainland  was  settled,  or  hardly  visited.  It  is 
not  easy  to  make  the  point  clear.  But  if  the' reader 
should  happen  to  devote  a  great  deal  of  time  to  reading 
the  narratives  of  Hakluyt  and  Captain  John  Smith, 
and  Rosier,  he  would  after  a  time  begin  to  feel  himself 
one  of  those  early  voyagers  who  cruised  so  much  among 
the  islands  of  the  coast  of  Maine,  always  calling  at 
Monhegan  for  water  and  to  pick  up  the  shipping  news, 
and  looking  at  the  coast,  and  inland  from  the  coast 
as  "the  Main." 


CHAPTER  XXII 
Some  Interesting  Laws  and  Prosecutions 

One  thing  we  can  give  Massachusetts  credit  for 
in  her  treatment  of  the  people  of  Maine  and  her  govern- 
ment of  the  Province.  She  did  not  make  any  attempt 
to  extend  her  terrible  witchcraft  laws  to  this  Province. 
We  fortunately  escaped  being  stained  by  that  black 
and  ugly  blot.  There  never  were  any  prosecutions  for 
witchcraft  in  Maine.  One  Maine  minister,  however, 
was  prosecuted  for  witchcraft,  but  not  in  any  court 
in  Maine.  The  Rev.  George  Burroughs,  formerly  a 
minister  at  Falmouth,  was  afterwards  prosecuted  at 
Salem  and  was  found  guilty  of  holding  at  arms  length 
a  seven-foot  gun  by  his  finger  inserted  in  the  muzzle; 
and  also  of  carrying  a  barrel  of  molasses  by  the  bung- 
hole.  To  one  who  recalls  the  fact  of  history  that 
molasses,  after  it  had  been  fermented  and  transformed 
into  a  seductive,  but  villianous  smelling  liquor  called 
rum,  was  a  favorite  drink  of  Massachusetts  men,  both 
clerical  and  lay,  in  those  days — the  reading  of  the  account 
of  the  above  mentioned  trial  might  seem  significant. 
Anyway,  the  unfortunate  minister  of  the  gospel  was 
convicted  and  executed. 

In  addition  to  the  credit  which  we  must  give  her 
for  not  extending  her  witchcraft  laws  to  Maine,  we 
must  allow  her  some  credit  for  acts  of  positive  virtue 
as  well  as  for  negative  virtue.  Her  first  act  after 
taking  charge  of  the  Province  of  Maine  was  to  compel 
all    the   coast    towns   to   make   good   roads.     And    the 


Some  Interesting  Laws  i6i 

matter  of  good  roads  has  been  a  bone  of  contention 
in  Maine,  between  the  people  with  progressive  disposi- 
tions and  those  with  conservative  dispositions,  from 
that  day  to  this.  Also,  it  may  be  a  matter  of  interest 
to  know  that  a  prohibitory  law  was  enacted  in  Maine 
in  the  year  1690,  as  follows:  "In  the  Court  of  Sessions 
of  the  Peace  for  the  Province  of  Mayne  held  at  York, 
July  15th,  1690.  Ordered,  That  from  henceforth 
there  shall  not  be  any  Rum  or  other  strong  Liquor 
or  Flip  sold  unto  any  Inhabitant  of  the  Town  by  any 
Ordinary  keeper  therein,  directly  or  indirectly,  except 
in  case  of  great  necessity." 

If  witchcraft  laws  were  not  enforced  by  Massa- 
chusetts in  Maine  it  may  cheerfully  be  conceded  that 
other  sumptuary  laws  were  enforced  here.  For  in- 
stance the  year  1665  all  the  towns  from  the  Isles  of 
Shoals  to  North  Yarmouth  were  indicted  "for  not 
attending  the  court's  order  for  making  a  pair  of  Stocks, 
Cage  and  Ducking-stool."  It  has  always  been  a  source 
of  wonder  to  the  writer  that  the  penalty  for  violating 
the  liquor  prohibitory  law  had  not  been  made  the 
public   "Stocks,"  or    the   "Cage." 

A  study  of  the  old  records  of  the  court  at  York  leads 
one  to  the  conclusion  that  the  crime  of  "lese-majesty" 
was  recognized  in  fact,  if  not  by  name,  under  the  j  uris- 
diction  of  Massachusetts  in  Maine  in  those  days.  One 
Thomas  Booth  was  convicted  of  slandering  the  persons 
constituting  the  government  of  the  Massachusetts 
Colony  by  calling  them  a  "company  of  Hypocritical 
Rogues,  that  feared  neither  God  nor  King."  For  this 
outrageous  remark  he  was  fined  five  pounds  sterling. 
He  very  probably  was  telling  the  truth,  for  it  seems  a 
remarkable  fact  that  the  crime  of  "lese-majesty"  is 
almost  invariably  committed  by  telling  the  truth 
about  the  powers  that  be.     In  1670  one  Thomas  Taylor 


162  The  Makers  of  Maine 

was  sentenced  for  abusing  Captain  Raynes,  a  man 
in  authority,  by  "theeing  and  thouing  of  him."  In 
1665  Jonathan  Thing  was  convicted  of  speaking  "dis- 
cornfully  of  the  Court,"  and  saying  that  he  did  not  care 
for  the  Governor,  and  he  was  sentenced  to  have  twenty 
lashes  on  the  bare  back.  One  William  Wardell  when 
required  to  contribute  to  the  support  of  Harvard  College 
replied  "that  it  was  no  ordinance  of  God's"  and  he 
was  arrested  for  it. 

Although  we  cannot  today  feel  any  sympathy 
for  such  laws,  yet  we  must  admit  that  those  men  "good 
Pharisees"  though  they  may  have  been,  were  actuated 
often  by  lofty  motives.  Compulsory  education  and 
compulsory  contributious  to  the  cause  of  education. 
Does  it  not  seem  that  these  founders  of  our  New  England 
civilization  were  prophetic  and  foresaw  for  the  genera- 
tions that  were  to  come  long  after  their  own  death  a 
great  Republic  based  upon  universal  suffrage  requiring 
universal  enlightenment  to  maintain  universal  liberty 
against  the  encroachments  of  the  power  of  wealth 
and  special  privilege?  A  Republic  whose  problems 
we  ourselves,  after  many  generations  of  have  come  and 
gone,  have  not  yet  worked  out  the  half? 

Some  of  the  judgments  of  that  court  at  York  we 
at  this  day  can  heartily  acquiese  in.  For  instance 
one  Thomas  Withers,  in  1691,  was  convicted  of  "sur- 
reptitiously indeavoring  to  pervert  the  providence 
of  God  and  privileges  of  others  by  putting  in  several 
Votes  for  himself  to  be  an  officer  at  a  Town  meeting 
when  he  was  intrusted  by  divers  freemen  to  vote  for 
other  men."  He  was  fined,  pilloried  and  disfranchised. 
If  acts  of  corruption  of  the  ballot  were  met  with  as 
stern  justice  as  that  now,  we  would  hear  less  of  social- 
ism as  the  panacea  for  all  the  ills  of  the  body  politic. 

Massachusetts    had     now    obtained     full    control 


Some  Interesting  Laws  163 

of  the  government  of  the  English  in  Maine;  and  we  now 
come  to  the  beginning  of  the  Indian  Wars.  In  J. 
Wingate  Thornton's  article  on  "Ancient  Pemaquid," 
in  Volume  V  of  the  Collections  of  the  Maine  Historical 
Society,  we  read  the  following,  which  we  may  accept 
as  the  usual  statement  of  the  English  point  of  view: 

"But  tragic  and  fearful  events  were  now  rapidly 
approaching:  the  gathering  clouds  hushed  every  thought 
but  that  of  personal  safety;  at  first,  mere  whisperings 
of  danger  startled  the  defenseless  planter;  the  unwonted 
smiles  and  silence  of  the  natives  were  of  portentous 
meaning;  but  ere  thought  had  become  action,  escape 
was  too  late,  and  every  settlement  yesterday  in  security 
and  peace,  was  now  laid  waste  by  indiscriminate  slaugh- 
ter; a  thrill  of  horror,  of  awful  fear,  a  faintness,  swept 
over  the  heart  of  New  England,  as  if  the  heathen  had 
God's  commission  against  them,  robbing  them  of  their 
children,  destroying  their  cattle,  making  them  few  in 
number,  and  their  highways  desolate.  Various  were 
the  causes  assigned  for  this  war,  some  attributed  it  to 
an  imprudent  zeal  in  christianizing  the  Indians,  but 
certainly  this  was  not  true  of  Maine;  some,  to  vagrant 
Jesuits,  who  had  for  years  gone  from  Sachem  to  Sachem, 
to  exasperate  the  Indian  against  the  English,  and  to 
bring  them  into  a  confederacy;  and  that  they  were 
promised  supplies  from  France  and  other  parts  to 
extirpate  the  English  nation  out  of  the  continent  of 
America.  This  is  in  harmony  with  all  history,  and 
doubly  confirmed  by  the  fact  that  the  eastern  tribes 
were  always  in  alliance  with  the  French  who,  be  it 
remembered,  were  here  solely  by  the  will  of  the  mer- 
cenary Stuarts,  and  against  the  will  of  the  people.  On 
their  memory  rests  this  stain  of  blood  and  crime." 

That,  as  I  said,  is  the  statement  of  the  English 
view,  the  statement  which  has  been  taught  to  the  des- 


164  The  Makers  of  Maine 

cendants  of  those  English  settlers  and  is  still  taught 
in  most  of  the  public  schools  down  to  this  day,  as  the 
truth  of  history.  In  the  course  of  my  narrative  I  shall 
endeavor  to  present  the  facts  of  the  wars  which  followed 
without  going  too  much  into  detail,  that  the  reader 
may  judge  for  himself,  whether  it  is  in  harmony  with 
all  history  that  the  Jesuits  were  the  real  instigators 
of  those  wars,  and  upon  their  memory  rests  the  stain 
of  blood  and  crime. 

Pemaquid  usually  called  in  historical  writings, 
"Ancient  Pemaquid,"  was  the  English  fortress  and 
stronghold  of  the  debatable  country  east  of  the  Kenne- 
bec, which  France  claimed  as  indisputably  part  and 
parcel  of  Acadia,  and  which  England  disputed  as  part 
of  New  England ;  her  claim  being  based  upon  the  voyages 
and  settlements  which  I  have  mentioned  and  discussed 
at  some  length  in  previous  chapters;  but  in  fact  and  in 
historical  truth  her  claim  can  rest  only  upon  the  act 
of  Captain  Argall  at  St.  Sauveur,  that  unwarranted 
and  outrageous  violation  of  international  law. 

But  this  makes  Pemaquid  an  important  point 
as  the  English  outpost,  and  its  history  interesting  and 
instructive.  Its  history,  its  commanding  position  in 
the  day  of  its  youth,  its  unimportance  except  as  a  way- 
mark  in  later  days  to  the  student  of  history,  illustrates 
the  movement  of  empire,  the  strange  fate  which  befalls 
the  works  and  plans  of  man.  Once  it  was  the  bulwark 
of  English  Protestantism  in  the  east,  the  virtual,  if 
not  actual,  capital  of  the  Province  of  Maine,  a  military 
post  and  trading  center  second  in  importance  only  to 
Boston;  now  a  summer  resort,  a  fishing  hamlet,  known 
to  but  few  of  the  general  public  as  a  part  of  the  town 
of  Bristol.  Many  such  examples  of  the  ebb  and  flow 
of  the  tide  of  empire,  in  a  small  way  are  to  be  found 
in  Maine;  of  interest  now  to  no  one  but  the  antiquary. 


Some  Interesting  Laws  165 

I  will  instance  but  one  more, — I  mention  it  because 
several  times  within  late  years  its  name  has  come  into 
brief  and  passing  prominence  in  the  newspapers  by 
reason  of  the  fact  of  buried  money  of  a  coinage  prior 
to  1607,  when  Waymouth  made  his  voyage  to  the  Ken- 
nebec, having  been  discovered  there, — Richmond's 
Island,  near  Portland.  This  was  in  early  days  an 
important  post.  A  considerable  settlement  with  an 
English  church  was  founded  there.  Ships  discharged 
their  cargoes  and  reloaded  for  Europe;  courts  were 
held  there,  and  the  settlement  was  the  center  of  the 
interest  of  a  wide  territory.  All  this  has  long  since 
disappeared,  and  today  a  few  farm  houses  are  all  that 
remain  to  mark  the  spot  of  a  once  infant  metropolis. 


CHAPTER  XXII 

the  First  Deed  From  an  Indian  Chief  and 

Herein  Concerning  Our  Titles 

to  Our  Lands 

Among  the  other  interesting  chronicles  of  first 
events  to  transpire  in  America,  the  fact  deserves  par- 
ticular mention  that  the  first  bill  of  exchange  to  be 
drawn  in  America  was  drawn  in  Maine  in  the  year 
1623  by  Abraham  Shurt  upon  Robert  Aldworth  and 
Gyles  El  bridge  of  Bristol,  England,  in  favor  of  Ambrose 
Jennens  of  London,  who  was  at  that  time  owner  of 
Monhegan  Island,  for  the  purchase  price  of  the  island, 
for  the  sum  of  fifty  pounds  sterling.  This  purchase 
was  also  the  first  written  conveyance  of  real  estate  in 
New  England. 

The  word  Pemaquid  is  a  very  ancient  word  of  Indian 
origin.  It  is  supposed  to  mean  a  promontory,  land 
reaching  out  into  the  sea.  The  region  of  Pemaquid 
like  the  French  Acadia,  was  of  very  indefinite  extent, 
although  never  of  such  extent  as  Acadia.  It  seems  to 
have  embraced  Monhegan  and  the  neighboring  islands, 
also  the  cluster  of  Damariscove  Island,  and  the  Pem- 
aquid peninsular  proper. 

The  name  of  Pemaquid  will  always  remain  an 
important  one  in  the  annals  of  these  regions  for  another 
reason.  Pemaquid  was  the  home  of  the  Indian  Chief, 
or  Sagamore,  or  Lord,  Samoset,  or  Somerset,  of  school- 
boy-history fame,  for  that  matter  of  a  fame  worthy  of 
illumining   the    pages  of   more   sober   and   unromantic 


The  First  Deed  from  an  Indian  Chief      167 

history.  Samoset  it  was  who  greeted  the  Pilgrims 
at  Plymouth  with  his, — "much  welcome,  Englishmen." 
Governor  Bradford  says  that  he  "came  boldly  amongst 
them,  and  spoke  to  them  in  broken  English,  which  they 
could  well  understand,  but  marvelled  at  it.  At  length 
they  understood,  by  discourse  with  him,  that  he  was 
not  of  these  parts  (Plymouth)  but  belonged  to  ye 
eastern  parts,  where  some  English  ships  came  to  fish, 
with  whom  he  was  acquainted,  and  could  name  sundrie 
of  them  by  their  names,  amongst  whom  he  had  got  his 
language."  "He  had  a  bow  and  two  arrows,  a  leather 
about  his  waist,  with  a  fringe  about  a  span  long,  or  little 
more." 

In  the  year  1625  the  first  deed  of  real  estate  was 
made  from  Indian  Chiefs  to  an  Englishman,  Samoset 
and  Unongoit  conveyed  to  John  Brown,  as  follows: 

"To  all  whom  it  may  concern.  Know  ye,  that  I, 
Captain  John  Somerset  and  Unongoit,  Indian  Saga- 
mores, they  being  the  proper  heirs  to  all  the  lands  on 
both  sides  of  Muscongus  River,  have  bargained  and 
sold  to  John  Brown,  of  New  Harbour,  this  certain  tract 
or  parcel  of  land  as  followeth,  that  is  to  say,  beginning 
at  Pemaquid  Falls  and  so  running  a  direct  course  to 
the  head  of  New  Harbour,  from  thence  to  the  South 
End  of  Muscongus  Island,  taking  in  the  island,  and  so 
running  five  and  twenty  miles  into  the  country  north 
and  by  east,  and  thence  eight  miles  northwest  and  by 
west,  and  then  turning  and  running  south  and  by 
west,  to  Pemaquid,  where  first  begun.  To  all  which 
lands  above  bounded,  the  said  Captain  John  Somerset 
and  Unongoit,  Indian  Sagamores,  have  granted  and 
made  over  to  the  above  said  John  Brown,  of  New  Har- 
bour, in  and  for  consideration  of  fifty  skins,  to  us  in 
hand  paid,  to  our  full  satisfaction,  for  the  above  men- 
tioned lands  and  we  the  above  said  Indian  Sagamores, 


168  The  Makers  of  Maine 

do  bind  ourselves  and  our  heirs  forever,  to  defend  the 
above  said  John  Brown  and  his  heirs  in  the  quiet  and 
peaceable  possession  of  the  above  lands.  In  witness 
whereunto,  I  the  said  Captain  John  Somerset  and 
Unongoit,  have  set  our  hands  and  seals  this  fifteenth 
day  of  July  in  the  year  of  our  Lord  God,  one  thousand 
six  hundred  and  twenty-five. 

His 
Captain  John  Somerset  x 

Mark 
his 
Unongoit  x  (L.  S. ) 
mark 
Signed  and  sealed  in  presence  of  us: 
Matthew  Newman, 
William  Cox, 

Unongoit  was  satisfied  with  a  cross  for  signature. 
But  Samoset,  as  proud  as  any  Baron  of  the  Middle 
Ages,  must  have  a  symbol  more  characteristic  of  him- 
self than  the  humble  cross,  so  he  traces  the  figure  of  a 
bow  and  arrow  for  signature. 

Governor  Pownall,  in  the  year  1765,  wrote  concern- 
ing these  deeds:  "The  European  land  workers,  when 
they  came  to  settle  in  America,  began  trading  with  the 
Indians,  and  obtained  leave  of  them  to  cultivate  small 
tracts  as  settlements  or  dwellings.  The  Indians, 
having  no  other  idea  of  property  than  what  was  con- 
formable to  their  transient,  temporary  dwelling-places, 
readily  granted  this.  When  they  came  to  perceive 
the  very  different  effect  of  settlements  of  landworkers 
creating  a  permanent  property,  always  extending  its 
self,  they  became  uneasy;  but  yet,  in  the  true  spirit  of 
justice  and  honor,  abided  by  the  effects  of  concessions 
which  they  had  made,  but  which  they  would  not  have 


The  First  Deed  from  an  Indian  Chief      169 

made,    had    they   understood   beforehand    the   force   of 
them." 

This  opens  a  great  question  of  political  philosophy, 
— the  foundation  and  nature  of  man's  right  to  property 
in  the  land,  a  subject  which  I  have  no  intention  of  dis- 
cussing, had  I  even  the  temerity  to  attempt  such  an 
undertaking  within  the  limits  of  an  article  of  this  nature. 
But  I  may  say  in  passing,  that  we  American  people 
cannot  submit  to  scrutiny  the  title  by  which  we  hold 
the  land  upon  which  we  have  built  our  towns  and  cities, 
our  wealth  and  civilization ;  we  do  not  dare  to  examine 
our  national  conscience  ( if  I  may  be  permitted  to  em- 
ploy such  a  figure  of  speech, )  else,  if  we  did,  were  we  not 
thick-skinned  and  materialistic,  we  would  be  over- 
whelmed by  the  consciousness  of  the  debt  of  restitution 
which  we  never  can  liquidate. 

We  may  pass  with  barely  a  thought  the  fact  that 
English  sovereigns  had  no  rights,  founded  upon  the 
principles  of  justice  and  the  fundamentals  of  interna- 
tional law,  to  assume  to  grant  vast  tracts  of  land  in 
this  country  to  their  subjects.  For  the  sovereigns  did 
not  receive  the  title  to  the  soil  by  gift  of  God; — as 
Francis  I  of  France  said, — "he  would  like  to  see  the 
clause  in  Adam's  will  which  made  this  continent  the 
exclusive  possession  of  his  brothers  of  Spain  and  Port- 
ugal." Discovery  will  give  right  in  the  case  of  an 
uninhabited  land,  but  it  will  not  oust  the  original  pos- 
sessors of  an  inhabited  land.  The  right  by  con- 
quest is  applicable  only  in  the  case  of  a  just  cause 
of  war;  conquest  in  an  unjust  cause  is  criminal  aggres- 
sion. And  as  to  purchase  of  the  Indian's  land,  the 
very  statement  of  the  word  is  to  laugh,  were  it  not  for 
the  shameful  and  pitiable  memories  it  conjures  up. 
Read  again  the  first  deed  which  I  have  copied  into 
this  essay,  and   notice  the  consideration  paid  to  the  two 


170  The  Makers  of  Maine 

chiefs  for  this  valuable  and  extensive  tract  of  land, — 
fifty  skins;  and  remember  that  most  of  the  purchases 
made  afterwards  were  for  even  less  valuable  consider- 
ations. Pretended  purchases  they  were;  and  based 
upon  deceit  and  misunderstanding.  The  Indian's 
conception  of  ownership  of  the  land  was  the  right  to 
hunt  over  it.  He  had  no  objection  to  deeding  the 
same  right  in  his  land  to  the  Englishman,  and  he  inno- 
cently deeded  the  same  right  in  the  same  parcel  of 
land  to  two,  three  and  more  Englishmen  in  succession, 
thus  furnishing  the  Englishman  a  pretext  for  making 
war  upon  him  and  punishing  him  by  taking  more  land 
away  from  him,  this  time  by  "conquest." 

The  real  foundation  of  land  titles  by  which  the 
Englishman  gained  possession  of  this  country  is,  of 
course,  the  smug  and  self-satisfied  doctrine  that  to 
those  who  can  make  the  best  use  of  it  belongs  the  earth, 
the  doctrine  of  the  "white  man's  burden,"  which  is 
also  the  argument  of  the  "special  interests,"  likewise 
the  argument  of  the  highway  robber  and  the  second 
story  man. 

The  logical  results  of  that  argument  may  be  read 
in  the  pages  of  the  early  history  of  this  country.  We 
have  only  to  contrast  the  record  of  bloodshed  and  burn- 
ings of  the  English  settlers  of  New  England  with  the 
peaceful  progress  of  Champlain  and  the  Jesuits  in 
Acadia  and  Canada,  in  the  forests  of  Maine,  and  on  the 
waters  of  the  St.  Lawrence  and  the  Great  Lakes,  the 
armed  soldiers  of  France,  the  black  robed  soldiers  of 
the  Cross,  whose  record  is  unsullied  by  so  much  as 
even  one  act  of  treachery  or  violence  in  all  that  vast 
extent  of  country  and  in  a  period  of  more  than  one 
hundred  and  fifty  years. 

The  black  flag  of  piracy  waved  along  the  coast  of 
Maine  in   those  days.     I   do  not   refer  to   the   better 


The  First  Deed  from  am  Indian  Chief     m 

known  pirates  who  sailed  the  high  seas,  infested  the 
Spanish  main,  and  sometimes,  at  rare  intervals,  ap- 
peared off  the  coast  of  Maine;  but  to  a  home  product  of 
piracy,  of  not  so  ambitious  a  description  as  that  which 
has  figured  in  the  pages  of  history  and  fiction,  but 
doubtless  just  as  fearful  to  the  settlers  in  Maine,  and 
perhaps   more   dangerous   and    disastrous. 

As  usually  happens  in  a  new  country,  enough  of  the 
refuse  and  scum  of  the  world  had  drifted  to  New  England 
to  give  Maine  its  share  .One  Dixy  Bull  had  been  robbed 
by  a  band  of  marauders,  so  he  himself  called  about  him 
a  company  of  desperadoes  and  entered  upon  a  career 
of  open  piracy  along  the  coast.  They  captured  several 
vessels  at  sea,  and  took  the  fort  at  Pemaquid.  Cap- 
tain Neale  at  Piscataqua  fitted  out  a  little  fleet  of  four 
pinaces  and  shallops  and  forty  men  to  fight  the  pirates. 
This  is  the  first  fleet  and  naval  demonstration  fitted 
out  from  New  England  which  history  records.  This 
gave  rise  to  an  occurrence  which  deserves  mention 
as  furnishing  a  striking  example  of  the  bigotry  and 
intolerance    of    the   Puritans. 

It  will  be  remembered  that  the  greater  part 
of  the  English  settlers  in  Maine  were  not  of 
the  same  faith  as  the  Massachusetts  settlers. 
The  latter  were  Puritans  and  Dissenters.  Neale  wrote 
Winthrop  at  Boston  asking  aid  to  suppress  the  pirates, 
and  Winthrop  was  notified  that  the  outrage  had  been 
perpetrated  by  the  pirates  at  Richmond  Island.  But 
Richmond's  Island  was  a  high  church  plantation;  so 
(says  Winthrop  in  his  journal)  "the  Governor  thought 
best  to  sit  still  a  while,  partly  because  he  heard  that 
Captain  Neale  were  gone  after  them,  and  partly  because 
of  the  season  it  then  being  the  season  of  frost 
and  snow."  This  was  the  twenty-second  day  of  Oc- 
tober.     There    must  have  been  a  great  change  in  the 


172  The  Makers  of  Maine 

climate  of  New  England  since  Winthrop's  time  if 
there  was  enough  snow  and  frosts  in  the  month  of  Oc- 
tober to  prevent  an  expedition  setting  out. 

The  little  love  which  the  Puritans  had  for  the 
Maine  people  may  be  imagined  from  the  following 
incident.  Henry  Jocelyn,  one  of  the  Royal  Commis- 
sioners appointed  by  the  Crown,  lived  in  Maine  for 
several  years  and  returned  to  England  in  1671.  He 
describes  the  people  of  Maine  in  these  words:  "Magis- 
trates, Husbandmen  or  Planters  and  fishermen;  of  the 
magistrates — some  be  royalists,  the  rest  perversed 
spirits,  the  like  are  the  planters  and  fishers,  of  which 
some  be  planters  and  fishers  both,  others  meer  fishers; 
there  are  but  few  handscraftmen,  and  no  shopkeepers; 
English  goods  being  kept  by  the  Massachusetts  mer- 
chants, here  and  there,  on  the  coast,  at  a  profit  of  one 
per  cent,  in  exchange  for  fish."  "They  have  a  custom 
of  taking  tobacco,  sleeping  at  noon,  sitting  long  at 
meals  sometimes  four  times  a  day,  and  now  and  then 
drinking  a  dram  of  the  bottle  extraordinary;  the  smok- 
ing of  tobaccao,  if  moderately  used,  refresheth  the 
weary  very  much,  and  so  doth  sleep."  Of  the  fisher- 
men, he  says:  "To  every  shallop  belong  four  fishermen, 
a  Master  or  Steersman,  a  midship-man,  and  a  Fore- 
mastman,  and  a  shoreman  who  washes  it  out  of  the 
salt,  and  dries  it  upon  hurdles  pitcht  upon  stakes 
breast  high  and  tends  their  cookery;  these  often  get  in 
one  voyage  Eight  or  Nine  pound  a  man  for  their 
shares,  but  it  doth  some  of  them  little  good,  for  there 
comes  in  a  walking  tavern,  a  bark  laden  with  the  Legi- 
timate bloud  of  the  rich  grape,  the  conclusion  of  which 
is  the  costly  sin  of  drunkenness."  "Of  this  nature  are 
people  in  the  Dukes  Province,  who,  not  long  before  I  left 
the  country,  petitioned  Massachusetts  to  take  them  into 
their  government ;  Birds  of  a  feather  will  rally  together." 


CHAPTER  XXIV 

Conduct  of  the  English  Towards  the  Indians 
as  Proven  from  English  History 

In  a  previous  article  I  have  quoted  from  a  writer 
whose  view  of  Maine  history  is  distorted  by  his  anti- 
Catholic  and  an  ti -Jesuit  prejudices, — J.  Wingate 
Thornton,  author  of  "Ancient  Pemaquid,"  (Coll. 
Me.  Hist.  Soc.  Vol.  V)  quoting  the  exact  words  with 
which  he  introduces  his  narrative  of  the  Indian  wars 
fought  upon  the  soil  of  Maine.  He  says  that  it  is  in 
harmony  with  all  history  that  the  cause  of  the  war 
was  the  conduct  of  the  Jesuits  who  had  for  years  gone 
from  Sachem  to  Sachem  exasperating  the  Indians 
against  the  English.  To  show  the  utter  inability  and 
lack  of  capacity  of  such  writers  to  view  history  in  the 
light  of  reason  and  fairness,  it  is  only  necessary  to  say 
that  in  the  very  next  breath  he  unwittingly  admits 
the  falseness  of  his  premises.  For  in  the  next  para- 
graph he  says:  "Henry  Sawyer  of  York  sent  the  first 
news  of  the  Indian  troubles  about  Plymouth,  to  the 
Kennebec,  on  the  eleventh  of  July  1675.  In  the  spring 
of  1676,  one  Laughton  from  Piscataqua,  or  that  vicin- 
ity, enticed  some  Indians  about  Cape  Sable  aboard 
his  vessel  and  sold  them  into  slavery." 

Also,  we  find  Mr.  Thornton  saying:  "The  sum- 
mer of  1694  was  a  bloody  time.  On  the  approach  of 
winter,  Bomazeen,  the  Chief  of  the  Norridgwocks, 
who  had  signed  the  treaty  the  year  before,  and  was 
the  ring  leader  in  the  brutalities  and  murders  perpetrated 


174  The  Makers  of  Maine 

upon  the  English,  appeared  beneath  the  walls  of  Pema- 
quid,  with  a  flag  of  truce,  pretending  he  and  his  com- 
panions were  just  arrived  from  Canada,  acknowledg- 
ing their  crimes,  and  promising  better  for  the  future. 
The  following  account  was  from  one  present  at  the 
interview.  November  19th  (1694)  Bomazeen,  with 
ten  or  a  dozen  men  called  over  the  barbican,  desiring 
to  speak  with  Captain  March,  and  set  up  a  flag,  by 
which  they  did  implicitely  own  themselves  enemies 
and  breakers  of  the  peace.  We  did  not  put  out  ours 
until  an  hour  or  two  after  theirs;  would  have  persuaded 
them  there  was  no  reason  for  it;  minding  them  of  the 
late  argreement  at  Pemaquid:  but  they  called  earnestly 
for  it. 

"We  resolved  to  seize  Bomazeen  at  any  rate,  except 
positive  violation  of  promise.  We  made  no  other 
promise  before  he  came  over  but  that  we  would  be 
glad  of  his  company,  would  treat  him  kindly,  and  do 
him  no  hurt.  After  he  was  seized,  we  told  him  the 
same  and  observed  it  punctually,  so  long  as  he  stayed 
here;  but  withal  told  him  we  must  know  who  did  the 
mischief  at  Oyster  River  and  Groton,  etc.,  of  which 
they  made  themselves  ignorant;  why  the  peace  was  so 
soon  broken  and  by  whom;  that  they  must  go  to  Boston 
and  abide  there  till  Sheepscote  John  was  sent  to  fetch 
in  the  other  Sagamores,  and  then  they  would  come 
again  with  some  of  the  English  to  treat,  etc.  We 
thought  it  not  unlawful  nor  culpable  to  apprehend 
such  perfideous  villians  and  traitors  (though  under  a 
white  rag)  that  have  so  often  falsified  their  promise 
to  the  English,  viz:  at  Cocheco,  at  Casco  Fort,  at 
Oyster  River  and  other  places;  that  make  no  con- 
science of  breaking  the  peace  whenever  it  serves  their 
turn,  although  never  so  solemnly  confirmed  with  sub- 
scriptions  and   oaths.     They    have   no   regard    to    the 


Conduct  of  English  Towards  Indians     175 

law  of  nations  and  therefore  deserve  no  human  respect. 
Besides,  we  are  credibly  informed,  they  came  with  a 
certain  design  to  destroy  their  Majesties'  fort,  here, 
under  pretense  of  trade,  friendship,  etc.,  and  so  they 
are  fallen  into  a  pit  of  their  own  digging.  Neither 
did  we  aim  at  anything  more  than  their  detainment  as 
prisoners,  supposing  some  advantage  might  occur  to 
the  poor  captives,  if  not  to  the  country  thereby. 

If  your  honors  judge  it  not  fairly  done,  they  are 
now  in  your  hands  to  dispose  of  and  deal  with  them  as 
may  be  for  their  Majesties  honors,  and  as  the  circum- 
stances of  the  case  require." 

Evidently,  "their  honors"  judged  it  fairly  done, 
even  though  it  was  done  under  a  "white  rag,"  for  they 
kept  the  Indian  in  a  vile  and  unhealthy  prison  at  Boston 
for  a  long  time. 

In  addition  to  the  acts  of  treachery  of  the  English 
and  their  numerous  violations  of  the  laws  of  civilized 
warfare,  it  must  be  admitted  that  they  gave  frequent 
exhibitions  of  disgraceful  cowardice.  July  14th,  1694. 
the  French  under  Iberville  laid  siege  to  Pemaquid. 
The  fort  at  Pemaquid  was  commanded  by  a  Captain 
Chubb.  The  following  is  the  account  of  the  surrender. 
(Hutchinson's  Mass.  II.  88-90.) 

"Captain  March,  who  was  a  good  officer,  had  re- 
signed the  command  of  the  fort  a  few  months  before, 
and  was  succeeded  by  a  very  different  man,  Captain 
Chubb.  Iberville,  upon  his  arrival,  sent  a  summons 
to  surrender.  Chubb  returned  a  vain,  foolish  answer, 
'that  if  the  sea  was  covered  with  French  vessels  and 
the  land  with  Indians,  yet  he  would  not  give  up  the 
fort.'  The  Indians  thereupon  began  their  fire,  and 
return  was  made  by  the  musketry  and  with  a  few  can- 
nons from  the  fort.  This  brought  the  first  day  to  a 
close.     In  the  night,   Iberville  landed  his  cannon    and 


176  The  Makers  of  Maine 

mortars;  and  the  next  day,  before  three  in  the  after- 
noon, he  had  raised  his  batteries,  and  thrown  five 
bombs  into  the  fort,  to  the  great  terror  of  Chubb  and 
his  garrison.  Castine,  about  this  time,  found  some 
way  of  conveying  a  letter  into  the  fort,  and  let  them 
know,  that,  if  they  delayed  surrendering  until  the  as- 
sault was  made,  they  would  have  to  do  with  the  savages, 
and  must  expect  no  quarter,  for  he  had  seen  the  King's 
order  to  Iberville  to  give  none.  This  did  the  business; 
the  chamade  was  beat  immediately,  and  the  fort  was 
surrendered,  upon  the  terms  offered  by  the  French  , 
that  the  garrison  should  be  sent  to  Boston,  and  ex- 
changed for  the  like  number  of  French  and  Indian  pris- 
oners; only,  a  special  security  or  engagement  was  in- 
sisted upon  from  the  French  commander,  that  their 
persons  should  be  protected  against  the  rage  of  the 
Indians." 

"Chubb's  conduct  was  universally  censured,  and 
at  first  he  was  put  under  arrest,  but  came  off  without 
any  punishment  other  than  being  laid  aside.  The 
fort  had  fifteen  cannon  mounted,  and  ninety  able  men 
to  manage  them,  no  want  of  ammunition  or  stores. 
The  French  supposed  that  if  there  had  been  a  brave 
defense,  the  event  would  have  been  doubtful;  at  least, 
that  the  fort  could  not  have  been  carried  without  a 
great  loss  of  men;  and  attributed  the  surrender  to  the 
cowardice  of  the  garrison,  who  compelled  the  com- 
mander to  act  contrary  to  his  own  inclination." 

The  same  writer  says:  "The  reason  of  the  garri- 
son's requiring  extraordinary  caution  against  the  rage 
of  the  Indians,  was  this:  They  were  conscious  of  their 
own  cruelty  and  barbarity,  and  feared  revenge,  and  a 
security  from  it  might  probably  hasten  the  surrender, 
lest  it  should  afterwards  not  be  in  their  power  to  obtain 
it.     In    the    month    of    February    before,    Egremet,    a 


Conduct  of  the  English  the  Indians    177 

chief  of  the  Machias  Indians,  came  to  the  fort,  to  treat 
upon  the  exchange  of  prisoners.  Chubb  with  some  of 
his  garrison  fell  upon  the  Indians  in  the  midst  of  the 
treaty,  when  they  thought  themselves  most  secure, 
murdered  Egremet  and  Abenquid  with  two  others. 
Toxus  and  some  others  escaped,  and  some  remained 
prisoners;  one  Indian  was  found  in  the  fort  in  irons 
when  the  French  took  possession  of  it." 

The  reader  is  reminded  that  the  foregoing  quo- 
tations are  from  non-Catholic  sources,  not  from  Cath- 
olic, and  not  only  from  non-Catholic,  but  in  most  cases 
from  the  strongest  anti-Catholic,  anti-Jesuit,  and  anti- 
French  writers.  I  have  not  yet  begun  to  give  the 
French  and  Catholic  side  of  the  story. 

Surely,  the  fair  minded  reader  of  history  must  be 
satisfied  that  it  is  the  truth,  that  if  the  Indians  did,  as 
in  fact  they  did,  commit  outrages  upon  the  English  in 
Maine — they  were  goaded  to  the  doing  of  it  by  the  in- 
human treatment  of  the  English.  It  is  almost  incon- 
ceivable at  this  day,  and  it  would  be  unbelievable  if 
we  did  not  have  it  on  the  authority  of  the  partizans  of 
the  English  Protestant  cause,  that  Englishmen,  calling 
themselves  Christians,  could  have  committed  such  acts 
of  wanton  cruelty  and  barbarity  upon  the  Indians. 

The  French,  after  the  capture  of  the  fort  of  Pema- 
quid,  demolished  it,  and  returned  to  the  Penobscot 
River.  This  was  the  close  of  the  first  period  of  the 
history  of  Pemaquid.  Pemaquid  was  desolate,  its 
inhabitants  dead  or  scattered. 

English  historians  have  often  related  the  story  of 
the  massacre  of  the  English  garrison  at  Fort  Loyal, 
now  Portland,  by  the  Indian  allies  of  the  French  in 
June  1690.  It  has  always  been  employed  as  a  clear 
and  unanswerable  proof  that  the  French  were  demo  ns 
of  cruelty.     But  two  facts  should  be  remembered    in 


178  The  Makers  of  Maine 

this  case — first  the  French  were  not  able  to  restrain 
the  Indians,  and  second,  the  Indians  themselves  were 
only  avenging  similar  massacres  perpetrated  by  those 
other  Indians  who  were  English  allies.  The  history 
of  the  Fort  Loyal  affairs  deserves  some  consideration. 

The  administration  of  Canada,  under  the  Govern- 
ors, La  Barre  and  de  Denouville,  was  lax  for  the  times, 
and  the  fierce  Iroquois  lost  respect  for  the  military 
prowess  of  the  French.  Consequently,  on  the  night 
of  August  4,  1689,  during  a  wild  storm,  1500  Iroquois 
landed  from  their  canoes  on  the  shores  of  Lac  St.  Louis, 
and  without  warning  fell  upon  the  village  of  La  Chine, 
murdering  the  inhabitants  in  their  beds,  before  the 
poor  wretches  had  even  an  opportunity  to  realize  what 
had  happened. 

When  the  news  of  this  outrage  reached  Louis  XIV, 
he  aroused  himself  enough  to  send  Louis  de  Frontenac, 
one  of  the  greatest  soldiers  of  the  time,  and  one  of  the 
greatest  governors  of  Canada,  to  Quebec  to  serve 
again  as  governor.  As  war  had  again  been  declared 
between  France  and  England,  King  Louis  gave  Fron- 
tenac the  order  to  exterminate  the  whole  English  sea- 
board, but,  as  men  and  arms  were  sorely  needed  in 
Europe,  Louis  neglected  to  provide  Frontenac  with 
the  means  for  accomplishing  this  ambitious  order. 

Although  Frontenac  had  not  at  his  command  the 
necessary  troops  to  carry  war  in  good  earnest  into  the 
English  colonies,  he  had  enough  French,  and  their 
Indian  allies,  with  his  own  indomitable  courage, 
resourcefulness  and  military  spirit  to  strike  terror  into 
the  hearts  of  the  Iroquios,  and  to  teach  them  not  to 
repeat  the  La  Chine  massacre  elsewhere.  In  the  winter 
of  1689  he  organized  three  expeditions,  and  sent  them 
one  to  Schenectady/^N.  Y.,  one  to  Salmon  Falls  on  the 
Piscataqua,  and  the  third  to  Fort  Loyal,  now  Portland. 


Conduct  of  English  Toward  Indians      179 

It  was  early  in  June  that  the  French  and  Hurons 
attacked  the  Casco  Bay  settlement.  The  English  had 
a  garrison  here,  and  it  required  six  days  of  siege  before 
they  surrendered.  They  were  promised  protection 
by  the  French  commander,  and  it  should  be  said  to  his 
credit  and  in  his  defense,  that  he  certainly  tried  to  make 
good  his  promise,  but  he  could  as  easily  stem  the  tide, 
or  stay  the  storm-king,  as  restrain  the  wild  and  blood- 
thirsty Indians.  The  usual  massacre  occurred.  But, 
as  we  said  before,  it  might  almost  be  called  the  fashion 
of  the  times.  And  certainly,  if  the  La  Chine  massa- 
cre had  not  happened,  history  would  not  have  to 
record  the  Fort  Loyal  Massacre. 

Unfortunately  most  writers  of  history  of  this  period 
forget,  or  neglect,  this  sequence  of  events. 

By  the  treaty  of  Ryswick,  September  10th,  1697, 
Acadia,  whose  career  was  that  of  a  pendulum  swinging 
back  and  forth  between  England  and  France,  was 
ceded  to  France.  The  English  fishermen  and  traders 
were  driven  from  the  coast  of  Maine,  the  French  were 
firmly  established  as  far  west  as  the  Kennebec,  and 
Catholic  priests  were  teaching  and  preaching  among 
the  Abenaqui  Indians. 

It  may  interest  the  reader  to  know  that  among 
the  numerous  historic  remains  (I  can  hardly  say  ruins) 
of  those  old  days  of  romantic  history  in  Maine,  the 
outlines  of  the  old  fort  at  Pemaquid,  and  the  rock 
which  formed  the  bomb-proof  of  the  magazine,  may 
still  be  discerned  at  this  place  on  the  coast. 


CHAPTER  XXV 

England's  Title  to  Maine  Obtained  by 

Treachery  and  Maintained 

by  Violence 

In  the  last  chapter  I  quoted  from  Thornton's 
"Ancient  Pemaquid".  Now,  let  us  call  the  greatest 
authority  of  all  as  a  witness, — Williamson:  Writing 
of  the  beginning  of  the  Indian  wars,  the  war  commonly 
called  in  English  writings,  "King  Phillip's  War,"  he 
says:  (Volume  1,  page  517)  "This  war  has  been 
ascribed  to  various  causes.  It  has  been  represented 
with  some  spleen  as  well  as  truth,  that  the  English 
were  the  aggressors.  The  generous  treatment  and 
welcome  they  first  received  from  the  natives  had  been 
repaid,  as  accusers  say,  by  kidnapping  their  benefac- 
tors, by  disturbing  their  hunting  grounds  and  fisheries, 
and  by  'a  shameful  mismanagement  of  the  fur  and 
peltry  trade.'  In  the  gradual  encroachments  of  the 
white  people,  the  Indians  foresaw  the  danger  of  being 
totally  exiled  from  their  native  country.  They  com- 
plained of  imposition — for  instance  an  Anasagunticook 
said,  'he  had  probably  given  100  pounds  sterling  for 
water  drawn  out  of  Purchas'  well.'  To  nothing  Euro- 
pean were  the  natives  more  passionately  attached  than 
the  hunting  gun;  as  it  afforded  them  the  necessary 
means  of  procuring  a  sustenance.  Still,  they  said, 
'The  English  refused  to  sell  them  firearms  and  ammu- 
nition, though  they  were  at  times  ready  to  starve  and 
perish;  whereas  the  French  were  free  and  cheerful  to 


England's  Title  isi 

supply  them  with  whatever  they  wished.'  Nay,  the 
Sagamores  knew  the  English  looked  upon  them  and 
their  tribes  with  a  distrustful  eye,  and  considered  them 
as  an  inferior  order  of  being;  while  they  themselves 
believed,  the  Great  Spirit,  who  gave  them  existence, 
had  also  given  them  absolute  rights  in  the  country  of 
their  birth,  and  the  land  of  their  fathers.  Many  tra- 
ditional stories  of  injuries  they  had  received  were  col- 
lected, (for  Indians  never  forget)  and  often  rehearsed 
in  a  manner  calculated  to  arouse  and  influence  their 
resentments." 

Also,  on  page  519,  he  says:  "But  the  far-famed 
Squando,  who  had  cherished  a  bitter  antipathy  against 
the  English,  had  recently  been  affronted  in  a  manner 
which  greatly  provoked  his  resentment.  As  his  squaw 
was  passing  along  the  river  Saco  in  a  canoe,  with  her 
infant  child,  she  was  accosted  by  several  rude  sailors 
who  having  heard  that  the  Indian  children  could  swim 
as  naturally  as  the  young  of  irrational  animals,  ap- 
proached her,  and  in  a  fit  of  inconsiderate  humor,  over- 
set the  canoe  to  try  the  experiment.  The  child  sank, 
and  though  the  mother,  diving,  brought  it  up  alive, 
it  soon  after  died,  and  the  parents  imputed  its  death  to 
the  ill-treatment  received.  So  highly  did  this  exas- 
perate Squando,  that  he  resolved  to  use  all  his  arts  and 
influence  to  arouse  and  inflame  the  Indians  against 
the  settlers." 

Let  the  reader,  who  is  a  Christian,  and  whose 
conduct  and  mode  of  life  and  mental  attitude  have 
been  determined  by  the  influence  of  generations  of 
Christian  civilization,  consider  what  he  would  do  if 
some  foreigners  should  submit  his  wife  and  children 
to  such  treatment  as  that  which  Williamson  relates 
in  the  above  quoted  passage. 

It  is  deserving  of  especial  notice  that  the   historian 


182  The  Makers  of  Maine 

says  that  the  English  did  not  dare  to  supply  the  natives 
with  firearms,  but  he  admits  that  the  French  could  do 
so  with  perfect  safety  to  themselves.  In  studying 
all  the  writings  of  all  the  historians  who  have  treated 
this  period  of  our  history,  the  student  will  be  impressed 
by  the  fact  that  the  writers  cannot  give  a  satisfactory 
reason  for  the  hostility  of  the  natives  towards  the 
English.  And  also,  although  they  deal  in  glittering 
generalities  to  the  effect  that  the  French  were  in  some 
way  responsible  for  that  hostility,  make  general  sweep- 
ing statements  about  the  unreliability  of  the  "Romish" 
French  and  the  "dishonesty"  of  the  Jesuit  priests, 
they  never  produce  one  concrete  example  to  sustain 
their  sweeping  charges.  And,  to  the  contrary,  these 
writers  themselves  frequently  mention  instances  of  the 
English  violating  promises  and  breaking  treaties  and 
committing  acts  of  hostility  in  time  of  peace.  An 
instance  of  the  latter  occurs  to  me  now.  In  the  year 
1654,  twenty  years  after  the  Peace  of  St.  Germain, 
by  which  Acadia  had  been  ceded  to  the  French  by 
England,  the  English  fitted  out  an  expedition  against 
the  Dutch  and  secret  instructions  were  given  to  the 
captains  of  the  ship  that  when  they  had  reduced  the 
Dutch  colony,  they  should  turn  their  arms  against 
Acadia  and  make  conquest  of  it.  The  French  were 
taken  by  surprise,  as  this  was  a  time  of  peace,  and  the 
English  met  with  no  resistance  at  the  Penobscot  nor  at 
the  river  St.  John.  La  Tour  was  in  command  at  the 
St.  John.  In  a  few  weeks  the  whole  province  of  Acadia 
was  reduced  to  subjection  by  the  English.  The  French 
protested  to  the  English  cabinet  and  complained  of  this 
as  an  unprovoked  outrage,  but  to  no  avail.  Several 
other  instances  could  be  cited;  but  I  think  I  have  already 
in  this,  and  the  preceding  chapters,  sufficiently  proved 
my  contention, — that  a  view  of  all  the  early  history 


England's  Titles  183 

of  Maine  shows  that  the  English  possession  was  ob- 
tained by  violence  and  a  breach  of  faith  in  the  first 
instance,  and  was  maintained  by  repeated  acts  of 
violence  and  treachery  towards  both  the  French  and  the 
Indians  afterwards. 

I  do  not  at  all  mean  to  argue  that  the  Indian  allies 
of  the  French,  were  not  guilty  of  acts  of  cruelty  and 
treachery  during  the  wars.  After  the  fighting  was  well 
begun,  there  is  little  choice  between  the  two  sides. 
History  contains  no  more  horrible  tale  than  the  mas- 
sacre which  followed  the  surrender  of  Fort  Loyal  at 
Falmouth.  On  the  other  hand,  in  the  same  year, 
Major  Benjamin  Church  commanded  an  expedition 
of  the  English  which  attacked  a  party  of  Indians  at  a 
fort  on  the  western  side  of  the  Lower  Falls  of  the  An- 
droscoggin (where  the  town  of  Brunswick  now  stands). 
The  Indian  warriors  made  their  escape  and  Major 
Church  captured  several  squaws  and  a  great  number 
of  Indian  children.  Their  fates  are  related  in  these 
words  of  Williamson,  (Volume  1,  page  625,)  "But 
it  is  painful  to  relate,  and  nowise  creditable  to  the 
usual  humanity  of  Major  Church,  that  the  rest  of  the 
females,  except  two  or  three  old  squaws,  also  the  un- 
offending children,  were  put  to  the  tomahawk  or  sword." 

Many  others  of  such  instances  can  be  cited  from 
Williamson  himself.  But  now,  let  us  consider  again  the 
frequent  repetition  of  the  charges  by  Williamson  and 
the  other  writers  of  this  period  of  history,  that  the  Jesuits 
were  the  instigators  of  the  outrages  committed  by  the 
Indians.  Williamson  says,  (Volume  1.  page  639) 
"Fit  instruments  to  effect  this  purpose  were  the  French 
missionaries.  The  four  or  five  who  were  prominent 
in  this  service,  were  M.  Thury,  Vincent  and  Jacques 
Bigot,  and  Sebastin  Ralle, — all  of  whom  were  ardent 
and  bold  enthusiasts,   always  ready  with   tearful  eye, 


184  The  Makers  of  Maine 

to  preach  from  a  text  in  their  creed, — that  'it  is  no  sin 
to  break  faith  with  heretics.'  "  Such  passages  occur 
frequently  in  the  writings  of  these  historians.  But 
the  reader  will  notice  that  however  carefully  he  may 
search  for  proof  to  sustain  the  charges,  for  even  one  well 
authentic  instance,  no  proof  is  forthcoming.  From 
cover  to  cover  of  the  books  of  these  historians,  not  one 
instance  of  such  acts  as  are  charged  against  the  Jesuits 
is  produced  to  sustain  the  charge.  The  closest  that 
Williamson  comes  to  proving  his  charge  is  the  following 
from  page  641  of  Volume  1.  Bomazeen,  the  Sagamore, 
had  been  captured  when  on  a  visit  to  Pemaquid,  and 
was  taken  to  Boston,  as  I  have  related.  The  following 
conversation  is  quoted:  "In  conversation  with  a 
clergyman  of  Boston,  Bomazeen  said,  'the  Indians 
understand  the  Virgin  Mary  was  a  French  lady,  and 
her  son,  Jesus  Christ,  the  blessed,  was  murdered  by  the 
English;  but  has  since  risen  and  gone  to  heaven,  and  all 
who  would  gain  his  pleasure  must  avenge  his  blood.'" 
Now,  admitting  that  the  Indian  said  that,  it  must 
be  remembered  that  he  was  a  prisoner  and  in  danger 
of  his  life,  and  it  is  not  at  all  surprising  that  he  would 
craftily  say  things  calculated  to  please  his  hearers 
and  to  deceive  them  into  thinking  that  he  was  ready 
to  renounce  allegiance  to  France  and  to  the  Catholic 
Church,  both  of  which  he  knew  were  cordially  hated 
by  the  English  Puritans  of  Boston. 


CHAPTER  XXVI 

An  Eloquent  Indian  Chief 

It  is  practically  impossible,  in  the  limits  of  a  work 
of  this  nature,  to  treat  at  any  length  the  history  of  the 
Indian  wars.  To  do  so  would  be  to  write  a  history 
of  Maine,  a  purpose  which  I  have,  as  my  readers  re- 
member, expressly  disclaimed.  No  other  State  of  the 
present  American  Union  has  such  a  history  of  fighting 
and  wars  as  Maine.  Williamson,  the  historian  of 
Maine,  whose  exhaustive  history  I  have  frequently 
quoted,  discussed  and  criticized  (I  hope  fairly),  in  be- 
ginning his  relation  of  the  fourth  Indian  war,  begun 
in  1722  (Volume  II,  Chapter  IV.)  discusses  the  situa- 
tion and  the  condition  of  the  Indians  at  that  time,  and 
relates  a  part  of  the  conversation  had  between  the 
English  officers  and  the  Indian  chiefs.  I  desire  to 
quote  his  relation  of  that  conversation,  because,  among 
other  reasons,  it  demonstrates  a  fact  which  I  have 
more  than  once  in  these  chapters  mentioned,  that  is, 
the  strange  obsession  of  a  learned  and  scholarly  writer 
by  the  evil  genius  of  religious  bigotry,  which  leads 
him  to  blindly  ignore  inevitable  deductions  from  ad- 
mitted facts. 

He  says  that  the  Indians  in  their  frequent  negotia- 
tions and  individual  parleys  and  conversations  with 
the  English  were  frank  to  open  their  hearts.  These 
were  his  words:  "But  why,  one  inquired  of  them, 
are  you  so  strongly  attached  to  the  French  from  whom 
you  can  never  receive  so  much  benefit  as  from  the  Eng- 


186  The  Makers  of  Maine 

lish?  A  sachem  gravely  answered,  'Because  the  French 
have  taught  us  to  pray  unto  God,  which  Englishmen 
never  did.'  A  summary  of  thoughts  and  expressions 
dropped  by  the  Indians  at  different  times  will  show 
their  views. — 'Frenchmen  speak  and  act  in  our  behalf. 
They  feed  us  with  good  things  we  need,  and  they  make 
us  presents.  They  never  take  away  our  lands.  No, 
but  their  kind  missionaries  come  and  tell  us  how  to 
pray,  and  how  to  worship  the  Great  Spirit.  When 
the  day  is  darkened  by  clouds,  our  French  brothers 
give  us  council.  In  trade  with  them,  we  have  good 
articles,  full  weight  and  free  measure.  Indians  and 
white  men  have  one  Great  Father.  He  has  given 
every  tribe  of  us  a  goodly  river,  which  yields  us  fine 
salmon  and  other  fish.  Their  borders  are  wide  and 
pleasant.  Here  the  Indians  from  oldest  times  have 
hunted  the  bear,  the  moose,  the  beaver.  It  is  our 
own  country,  where  our  fathers  died,  where  ourselves 
and  our  children  were  born;  we  can  never  leave  it. 
The  Indian  has  rights  and  loves  good  things  as  well  as  the 
Englishman.  Yes,  we  have  a  sense  too  of  what  is  kind 
and  great.  When  you  first  came  from  the  morning 
waters,  we  took  you  into  our  open  arms;  we  thought 
you  children  of  the  sun ;  we  fed  you  with  our  best  meat ; 
never  went  a  white  man  cold  and  starving  from  the  cabin 
of  an  Indian.  Do  we  speak  the  truth?  But  you  have 
returned  us  evil  for  good.  You  put  the  flaming  cup 
to  our  lips;  it  filled  our  veins  with  poison;  it  wasted  the 
pride  of  our  strength.  Aye,  and  when  the  fit  was  on, 
you  took  advantage,  you  made  gains  of  us.  You  made 
our  beaver  cheap;  then  you  paid  us  in  watered  rum 
and  trifles.  We  shed  your  blood;  we  avenged  your 
affronts.  Then  you  promised  us  equal  trade,  and  good 
commodities.  Have  Christian  Englishmen  lived  up 
to  their  promises?     Never,  for  they  asked  leave  of  our 


An  Eloquent  Indian  Chief  187 

fathers  to  dwell  in  the  land  as  brothers.  It  was  freely 
granted.  The  earth  is  for  the  life  and  range  of  man. 
We  are  now  told  the  country  spreading  far  from  the  sea 
is  passed  away  to  you  forever,  perhaps  for  nothing, 
because  of  the  names  and  seals  of  our  Sagamores.  Such 
deeds  be  far  from  them.  They  never  turned  their  chil- 
dren from  their  homes  to  suffer.  Their  hearts  were 
too  full  of  love  and  kindness,  their  souls  too  great. 
Whither  should  we  go?  There  is  no  land  so  much  our 
own,  none  half  so  dear  to  us.  Why  flee  before  our 
destroyers?  We  fear  them  not,  sooner  far  we'll  sing 
the  war  song,  and  again  light  up  the  council  fires;  so 
shall  the  great  spirits  of  our  fathers  own  their  sons. 
To  take  our  lands  from  us,  the  English  lawmakers  and 
rulers  themselves,  as  some  folks  tell  us,  have  long  ago 
forbidden  you.  All  the  forts  and  mills  built  again 
are  contrary  to  treaty  and  must  be  laid  low.  The 
white  men  shall  give  more  place  to  Indians,  so  shall 
the  lines  and  extent  we  require  to  see  established  be 
where  we  please  to  have  them." 

In  reading  the  foregoing,  one  cannot  but  be  im- 
pressed by  the  eloquence  of  the  speaker,  as  well  as  the 
sound  sense  and  justice  of  the  sentiments  expressed. 
We  find  Williamson  admitting  that  no  matter  how 
hard  pressed  the  Indians  were,  however  reduced  by 
famine  and  the  loss  of  warriors,  when  they  met  the 
English  to  draft  a  treaty  of  peace,  they  would  sacrifice 
every  hope  of  peace  rather  than  give  up  their  mission- 
aries. As  is  well  known  to  all  readers  of  the  history 
of  this  period,  the  English  conceived  a  bitter  hatred 
towards  the  missionary  priests;  and  to  justify  that 
hatred,  they  pretended  to  believe  that  the  Indians 
would  live  in  peace  and  quiet  were  it  not  for  the  evil 
machinations  of  the  Jesuit  priests. 

After  the  peace  of  Ryswick,  September  11th,  1693, 


188  The  Makers  of  Maine 

between  France  and  England,  the  English  met  the 
Indians  at  Mare  Point,  now  a  part  of  Brunswick,  to 
draw  up  a  treaty.  The  English  wanted  to  stipulate 
that  the  French  missionaries  at  Norridgewock,  and 
at  the  Penobscot  and  the  Androscoggin  should  be  with- 
drawn. The  Indians  consented  to  exchange  prisoners, 
and  agreed  to  all  else,  but  they  would  not  consent  to 
lose  their  missionaries. 

I  have  found  considerable  pleasure  in  pointing 
out  many  curious  features  of  the  history  of  these  times 
about  which  I  am  writing,  and  in  calling  attention  to 
some  facts  which  are  not  generally  known  and  to  other 
facts  which  have  been  generally  misunderstood  for 
generations.  It  may  be  of  interest  to  know  the  reason 
why  the  publication  of  the  Laws  of  Maine  is  to  this 
day  called  the  "Acts  and  Resolves."  There  is  now  no 
reason  for  the  title,  "Resolves."  But  the  history  of 
the  word  thus  used  is  curious.  The  Charter  of  William 
and  Mary  of  October  7th,  1691,  for  the  government  of 
the  Massachusetts  Bay  Colony,  provided  for  a  General 
Court,  which  should  be  an  elective  legislative  body. 
This  General  Court  was  given  full  power  to  enact  orders, 
laws,  statutes  and  ordinances,  but  all  such  were  to  be 
transmitted  to  the  king  for  his  approval  under  the 
royal  signature  by  the  first  opportunity.  If,  however, 
any  one  of  them  were  not  expressly  disallowed  by  him 
in  privy  council  within  three  years,  it  had,  after  that 
period,  the  full  force  and  effect  of  law  the  same  as 
if  it  bore  the  royal  signature.  This  was  manifestly 
inconvenient.  But  at  least  it  had  some  beneficial 
results,  for  great  pains  were  taken  to  render  the  enacted 
bills  perfect,  also  it  was  a  salutary  check  upon  the 
tendency  of  the  legislative  body  to  enact  a  needless 
multiplication  of  statutes, — that  bane  of  modern  legis- 
lation.    However,   to  avoid   transmitting  every   minor 


An  Eloquent  Indian  Chief  189 

legislative  measure  across  the  ocean  the  General  Court 
often  acted  by  "Resolves."  This  was  found  to  be  a 
convenient  way  of  "side-stepping"  the  letter  of  the 
Charter,  and  the  practice  grew.  The  reason  for  the 
name  "Resolve"  no  longer  exists,  but  to  this  day  the 
laws  of  Maine  and  of  some  other  States  are  entitled  the 
"Acts  and  Resolves." 


CHAPTER  XXVII 

The  Civil  War  Between  De  La  Tour 
and  aulnay  charnisay 

Let  us  turn  back  the  pages  of  history  again,  and 
take  up  the  story  of  the  first  French  settlers  in  Acadia 
that  we  may  consider  the  strange  civil  war  which  raged 
in  Acadia  between  two  French  Lords  of  the  New  World. 

When  Biencourt,  the  son  of  de  Poutrincourt,  be- 
came a  wanderer  in  the  wilderness,  after  the  breaking 
up  of  the  Port  Royal  settlement  under  de  Poutrincourt, 
his  companion  was  Charles  de  la  Tour.  They  joined 
themselves  to  the  bands  of  roving  Indians,  lived  their 
life,  and  became  so  identified  with  them  that  they 
were  almost  Indians  themselves. 

Biencourt  died  in  1622,  and  de  la  Tour  succeeded 
to  his  claims  to  lordship  in  Acadia. 

But  now,  let  us  return,  for  the  moment  to  the 
English  claim  to  Acadia.  King  James  I,  in  1621  granted 
to  Sir  William  Alexander,  afterwards  Earl  of  Stirling, 
the  English  claim  to  Acadia.  At  the  request  of  James' 
successor, — King  Charles,  Sir  William  fitted  out  an 
expedition  for  the  purpose  of  enforcing  the  English 
claim,  and  placed  in  charge  a  certain  David  Kirk,  a 
French  Huguenot  who  had  renounced  his  allegiance 
to  France  and  become  an  English  subject.  Kirk  cap- 
tured some  French  ships,  and  among  his  prisoners  was 
Claude  de  la  Tour,  the  father  of  Charles  de  la  Tour. 
Although  we  know  that  Charles,  the  son,  was  a  Cath- 
olic, at  least  in  name;  his  father,  Claude,  was  a  Hugue- 


De  La  Tour  and  Aulnay  Charnisay      191 

not.  As  some  excuse  for  the  conduct  of  Claude,  it 
should  be  said  that  at  that  time  religious  ties  were 
often  stronger  than  the  ties  of  country.  Claude  de  la 
Tour  was  received  in  such  a  flattering  manner  in  Eng- 
land that  his  loyalty  to  his  native  country  was  over- 
come, and  he  agreed  to  join  hands  with  the  English  in 
the  endeavor  to  wrest  Acadia  from  France,  or,  as  he 
put  it, — "to  save  Acadia  from  the  Jesuits."  But 
Claude  went  a  step  too  far, — he  pledged  the  co-opera- 
tion of  his  son,  Charles. 

Under  the  patronage  of  Sir  William  Alexander, 
he  sailed  for  Acadia  at  the  head  of  an  expedition.  When 
he  arrived,  he  interviewed  his  son;  and  to  his  surprise 
and  chagrin  Charles  refused  to  surrender  his  allegiance 
to  France  at  the  bidding  of  his  father.  The  father 
urged  and  argued;  but  to  no  effect.  He  threatened 
war;  but  Charles  answered  that  he  would  fight  for 
France  against  his  own  father.  He  even  went  so  far 
as  to  land  troops  and  march  against  the  fort;  but 
Charles  defended  with  so  much  vigor  that  the  English 
retired. 

Claude  found  himself  in  a  quandary.  He  could 
not  return  to  England  and  admit  that  all  his  plans  had 
miscarried  through  the  obstinancy  of  his  son  in  clinging 
to  his  honorable  allegiance  to  France;  and  he  could  not 
remain  in  Acadia  except  by  sufferance  of  his  son.  Fi- 
nally he  chose  the  latter  course,  and  was  allowed  to  live 
in  Acadia,  in  a  certain  style  of  independence. 

The  French  government  rewarded  Charles  de 
la  Tour  by  appointing  him  Lieutenant  Governor  of 
Acadia  and  its  dependencies.  Although,  as  I  have 
intimated,  he  was  no  more  than  a  nominal  Catholic, 
we  find  him  acting  as  patron  and  protector  of  the  Re- 
collect Fathers  who  maintained  a  mission  on  the  Pen- 
obscot for  several  years.     I  think  it  can  fairly  be  pre- 


192  The  Makers  of  Maine 

suined  that  his  reason  for  this  act  of  protectorship  of 
the  Recollect  missionaries  was  because  his  great  rival 
and  enemy,  D'Aulnay  Charnisay,  was  the  patron  of 
the  Capuchin  Fathers  who  had  mission  stations  on  the 
Kennebec  and  Penobscot,  as  we  shall  a  little  farther 
on  relate. 

It  should  be  noted  in  passing,  that  many  histo- 
rians, including  Williamson,  have  frequently  confused 
the  father  and  son  de  la  Tour,  especially  in  regard  to 
the  missions. 

The  strange  and  romantic  civil  war  which  Charles 
de  la  Tour  and  d'Aulnay  Charnisay  carried  on  against 
each  other  for  the  possession  and  lordship  of  Acadia 
makes  a  most  interesting  chapter  in  our  history.  It 
is  at  some  times  almost  comic;  but  at  all  times  tragic. 
The  amusing  part  of  it  is  the  effort  which  both  made 
to  enlist  the  Massachusetts  English  in  the  service  of 
one  or  the  other.  The  tragic  part  of  it  is  the  suffering 
of  the  noble  lady  who  was  the  wife  of  de  la  Tour,  and 
who  at  times  was  forced  to  bear  the  brunt  of  the  contest 
on  her  own  weak  shoulders.  One  result  of  the  war  was 
that  many  French  settlements  along  the  coast  of  Maine, 
and  on  the  Penobscot  and  Kennebec  Rivers,  were 
broken  up,  and  another  was,  without  doubt,  that  the 
missionary  work  of  the  Recollet  and  Capuchin  Fathers 
was  interfered   with   and   greatly   injured. 

De  La  Tour's  fort  was  on  the  St.  John  River, 
opposite  what  is  now  Navy  Island;  it  commanded  the 
river  and  harbor.  Here  Charles  lived  in  state  as  a 
feudal  lord  and  baron,  with  his  wife,  his|retainers,  and 
servants.  A  lonely  life  this  noble  lady  must  have 
lived,  with  no  equals  and  no  society  worth  mingling 
with.  Her  only  associates  were  her  children  and  the 
servants  and  Indians,  for  her  noble  _lord  was  away 
ranging  the  woods  and  hills  most  of  his  days. 


De  La  Tour  and  Aulnay  Charnisay      193 

Of  these  two  rivals  and  enemies,  Charnisay  was 
by  all  odds  the  shrewder.  Early  in  their  troubles 
he  made  haste  to  go  to  France  and  secure  influence  at 
court ;  while  de  la  Tour  remained  in  Acadia  attending 
to  the  government  of  his  te/.  ltories  and  the  canying 
on  of  his  fur  trades  and  fishing  industries.  Charnisay 
secured  an  order  from  the  King  requiring  de  la  Tour 
to  return  to  France  and  make  answer  to  the  charges 
and  claims  which  he  had  preferred  against  him.  The 
King  further  authoiized  Charnisay  to  arrest  de  la  Tour 
and  bring  him  to  France  if  he  failed  to  come  of  his 
own  accord.  This  was  an  order  more  easily  made 
than  executed.  As  a  result  of  this  order  the  fighting 
began.  De  la  Tour  strengthened  his  fort  and  his  de- 
fenses, and  bade  defiance  to  Charnisay  and  the  King's 
order.  In  this  act  he,  of  course,  made  himself  an 
outlaw.  From  this  point  on  Charnisay  had  him  at 
a  disadvantage  in  law;  but  Charnisay 's  own  methods 
will  hardly  bear  scrutiny  either.  Charnisay  dared 
not  attack  the  fort  at  this  time  with  any  hope  of  carry- 
it.  He  returned  to  France  to  obtain  assistance  to 
overpower   his  rival. 

Now  we  come  to  the  strange,  almost  ludicrous 
efforts  of  each  side  to  enlist  the  English  of  Massachu- 
setts in  the  struggle.  De  la  Tour  turned  his  eyes  to  Bos- 
ton. He  sent  a  messenger  to  Boston  to  treat  with 
the  English,  and  with  many  hints  of  a  community  of 
religious  interests  he  proposed  an  alliance  of  offense 
and  defense.  The  canny  Englishmen  of  Boston  held 
back  and  returned  fair  words  only.  De  la  Tour  per- 
sisted and  sent  messenger  after  messenger.  Then 
Charnisay  put  his  own  hand  into  this  game  of  politics 
and  himself  sent  a  messenger  to  Governor  Winthrop 
at  Boston  with  the  word  that  de  la  Tour  was  a  rebel 
against  his  King,  an  outlaw  under  the  laws  of  all  nations. 


194  The  Makers  of  Maine 

At  the  same  time  he  obtained  help  in  France,  securing 
five  vessels  and  five  hundred  men.  Now,  de  la  Tour 
began  to  realize  the  need  of  help  from  France,  and  he 
in  his  turn  appealed  to  his  family's  Huguenot  friends 
at  Rochelle,  giving  them  to  understand  that  this  was 
a  religious  war.  He  could  not  have  made  a  shrewder 
move,  for  the  cry  of  religious  persecution  was  all  that 
was  needed  to  arouse  the  Huguenots  of  Rochelle.  They 
in  their  turn  fitted  out  an  armed  vessel  with  one  hundred 
and  forty  men,  and  sent  them  to  Acadia  to  fight  in  this 
holy  war  of  religion. 

This  ship  arrived  off  Fort  La  Tour  to  find  the 
place  blockaded  by  Charnisay's  ships.  La  Tour  and 
his  wife  slipped  out  of  the  fort,  under  cover  of  darkness 
one  night,  got  aboard  a  ship  of  their  friends,  and  sailed 
for  Boston.  He  had  decided  to  apply  in  person  to 
the  English  for  help.  After  a  long  conference  with 
Governor  Winthrop,  and  his  Councilors,  it  was  finally 
decided  by  the  English  Colonists  to  permit  de  la  Tour 
to  hire  men  and  vessels  in  Boston.  La  Tour  chartered 
four  vessels,  fifty-two  men,  and  ninety-two  soldiers. 
This  partial  siding  of  Boston  men  with  La  Tour  against 
Charnisay  aroused  great  opposition,  and  protests  from 
many  parts  of  New  England,  especially  from  the  Eng- 
lish in  Piscataqua;  and  Endicott,  afterwards  Governor 
of  the  colony,  wrote  from  Salem  to  the  Governor,  ex- 
pressing his  fears  at  having  anything  to  do  with  "these 
idolatrous  French." 

Charnisay  did  not  know  what  was  going  on  in 
Boston,  and  was  surprised  when  La  Tour's  fleet  of  five 
ships  arrived  off  St.  John.  He  did  not  wait  to  give 
battle,  but  fled  to  Port  Royal.  One  circumstance 
is  sufficient  to  show  the  bitter  enmity  which  existed 
between  these  two  men.  About  this  time  Charnisay 
went  back  to  France,  and  found  that  the  Lady  de  la 


De  La  Tour  and  aulnay  Charnisay         195 

Tour  was  in  France  in  the  interest  of  obtaining  aid 
for  her  husband.  Instead  of  regarding  her  as  a  devoted 
wife  of  an  honorable  enemy,  he  procured  an  order  for 
her  arrest  on  the  ground  that  she  was  equally,  with  her 
husband,  a  traitor  to  the  King.  She  escaped  to  Eng- 
land. De  la  Tour,  after  making  repeated  entreaties 
for  aid  from  the  English  of  Boston,  found  that  he  could 
expect  nothing  from  that  quarter.  After  many  hard- 
ships, and  much  wandering,  the  Lady  de  La  Tour 
arrived  safely  at  the  fort  on  the  St.  John. 

At  one  time,  in  the  absence  of  Charles,  she  defended 
the  fort  herself,  as  commander,  against  an  attack  by 
Charnisay,  but  finally,  on  the  12th  of  April,  1645,  Charn- 
isay succeeded  in  capturing  the  fort.  After  a  brilliant 
resistance,  the  Lady  de  La  Tour,  who  was  still  alone, 
and  the  commandant  in  the  absence  of  her  husband, 
to  save  the  lives  of  her  few  followers  capitulated  to 
Charnisay.  Once  Charnisay  took  possession,  he  broke 
his  word,  and  caused  the  whole  garrison  to  be  hanged. 
Doubtless,  also,  he  desired  to  murder  Lady  de  La  Tour, 
but  dared  not.  But  he  did  almost  as  much.  He 
compelled  her  to  be  present  at  the  execution  of  her 
soldiers,  with  a  rope  around  her  neck,  like  one  who 
was  about  to  be  executed.  The  shock  of  all  these  ter- 
rible events  was  too  much  for  this  poor  woman,  and  she 
shortly  afterwards  died. 

The  names  of  two  great  French  women  stand  out 
as  brilliant  stars  among  the  galaxy  of  heroic  souls,  who 
lived  and  took  their  part  in  the  making  of  this  land 
in  those  early  days.  Those  two  women,  the  greatest 
of  all  the  women  whose  names  and  fortunes  were  com- 
mingled with  those  of  the  men  who  helped  in  the  building 
of  this  country  are  Madame  de  Guercheville,  who  gave 
her  private  fortune  for  the  founding  of  a  French  colony 


196  The  Makers  of  Maine 

in  Acadia,  and  Madame  de  la  Tour,  who  gave  her  life 
to  the  defending  of  a  French  colony  in  Acadia. 

It  is  not  necessary  to  give  further  minute  details 
of  the  remainder  of  the  lives  of  La  Tour  and  Charnisay. 
La  Tour  afterwards  went  to  Quebec  and  New  Found- 
land,  and  was  absent  from  Acadia  for  four  years.  Dur- 
ing that  period  Charnisay  was  certainly  in  the  ascen- 
dancy in  Acadia. 

In  1650,  however,  he  met  his  death  by  drowning 
in  the  river  of  Port  Royal.  Such  was  the  end  of  one 
of  the  most  bitter,  cruel  and  relentless  men  who  had 
a  hand  in  the  making  of  history  of  this  period. 

De  La  Tour  took  advantage  of  Charnisay's  death 
to  regain  the  ascendancy  in  Acadia,  and  in  1653  he 
married  the  widow  of  Charnisay.  And,  so,  those  two 
families,  after  years  of  bitter  conflict,  were  united. 
Afterwards  the  English  took  fort  La  Tour.  Charles 
de  La  Tour  died  in  the  year  1666,  at  the  age  of  seventy- 
two.     He  was  buried    in    his  beloved  Acadia. 


CHAPTER  XXVIII 

The  Interesting  but  Little  Known  History 
of  the  Capuchin  Missions  in  Maine 

In  the  course  of  the  narrative  of  the  life  of  de  la 
Tour,  I  mentioned  the  Capuchin  Missionaries  on  the 
Kennebec  and  Penobscot.  As  de  la  Tour,  in  a  manner, 
patronized  the  Recollect  Fathers,  so  his  great  rival 
Charnisay  was  the  patron  of  the  Capuchins.  While 
there  may  be  some  question  of  the  Catholicity  of  La 
Tour,  there  can  be  no  doubt  but  that  Charnisay  was 
truly  devoted  to  the  interests  of  the  Church,  and  anxious 
that  the  Catholic  missions  should  prosper. 

Let  us  relate  what  is  known  about  the  Capuchin 
missionaries  in  Maine,  those  Frenchmen,  educated, 
refined  and  selfsacrificing  who  gave  up  their  homes  in 
Paris  to  live  in  the  wilderness  of  the  Maine  woods, 
and  whom  we  find,  in  the  year  1648,  conducting  a  mis- 
sion for  the  Indians  on  the  Penobscot  and  Kennebec, 
and  building  the  little  church  of  Our  Lady  of  Holy 
Hope  at  Castine. 

When  our  Civil  War  was  raging,  the  United  States 
government,  in  the  year  1863,  erected  a  battery  near 
the  harbor  of  Castine,  on  the  site  of  an  old  brick  battery 
which  was  formerly  known  as  the  Lower  Fort.  Mr. 
W.  H.  Weeks  was  engaged  in  work  on  the  road  leading 
to  the  battery.  While  at  work,  he  found  near  the  fort, 
and  only  a  little  below  the  surface  of  the  ground,  a  piece 
of  old  sheet  copper.  He  thought  nothing  of  it  at  the 
time,  and  cut  off  a  piece  to  repair  his  boat.   Afterwards, 


198  The  Makers  of  Maine 

however,  he  discovered  some  letter,  and  made  out 
an  inscription,  which,  later,  by  the  help  of  archaeolog- 
ists, was  rendered  as  follows: 

1648.    8   IVN,    F 

LEO.   PARISIN. 

CAPUC.     MISS 

POSVI   HOC   FV- 

NDTM    IN   HNR- 

EM   NRAE 

SANC  TAE  SPEI 
which  translated,  reads  in  English  as  follows: 

1648.     June,  8  I  Friar 

Leo  of  Paris 

Capuchin,  Missionary, 

laid  this  found- 
ation in  honor 

of  Our  Lady 

of  Holy  Hope. 
This  copper  plate  was,  without  doubt,  placed  by 
Father  Leo  of  Paris,  at  the  time  the  Superior  of  the 
Capuchin  missionaries,  in  the  receptacle  sealed  in  the 
corner  stone  of  the  chapel  of  Our  Lady  of  Holy  Hope 
built  by  these  Fathers  at  Castine. 

The  names  of  the  other  Capuchin  Fathers  who  were 
superiors  of  the  mission  are, — Father  Arsenius  of  Paris, 
Father  Angelus  of  Luynes,  Father  Ignatius  of  Paris, 
and  Father  Cosmas  de  Mantes. 

The  Rev.  Father  Charlevoix  could  have  given  us 
more  information  concerning  these  Capuchin  mis- 
sionaries and  their  work  in  Maine  when  writing  his 
History  of  New  France.  The  full  correspondence 
between  the  Jesuit  Father  Druillettes  and  the  Capu- 
chin Fathers  was  preserved  in  the  Archives  of  the 
college  at  Quebec,  and  Father  Charlevoix  must  have 


The  Capuchin  Missions  199 

had  access  to  this  correspondence.  But  he  did  not 
publish  the  correspondence;  and  it  was  afterwards  lost, 
together  with  many  other  priceless  manuscripts,  when 
Quebec  was  taken  by  the  English.  The  Capuchins 
themselves  did  not  keep  a  daily  record  of  their  doings, 
as  the  Jesuits  did.  Consequently,  we  have  no  Capu- 
chin Relations  to  refer  to. 

The  Capuchin  order  was  instituted  in  Europe 
about  the  year  1528.  They  were  offered  a  mission  in 
Canada  in  1632,  but  declined  it  at  that  time,  and  the 
Jesuits  took  their  place.  Ten  years  afterwards,  Char- 
nisay,  the  great  rival  and  enemy  of  de  La  Tour,  invited 
them  to  take  charge  of  the  religious  affairs  of  that  part 
of  Acadia  over  which  he  claimed  jurisdiction.  They 
came  and  began  their  work  in  the  year  1643. 

In  the  Jesuit  Relations,  we  read,  concerning  Father 
Druilettes'  journey  from  Quebec  to  Maine  in  1646: 
"His  Indian  guide,  seeing  himself  on  the  banks  of  the 
sea  of  Acadia,  conducted  the  Father  in  a  little  bark 
canoe  to  Pentagoet,  where  he  found  a  little  hospice  of 
Capuchin  Fathers  who  embraced  him  with  the  love 
and  charity  which  was  to  be  expected  from  their  good- 
ness. Their  superior,  Father  Ignatius  of  Paris,  gave 
them  every  possible  welcome.  After  recruiting  some- 
time with  these  good  fathers  he  re-embarked  in  his 
canoe." 

The  Capuchins,  besides  being  missionraies  to  the 
Indians,  were  chaplains  to  the  French  settlers,  traders, 
and  fishermen.  There  could  not  have  been  any  enmity 
or  jealousy  between  them  and  the  Jesuits,  as  some 
historians  intimate.  It  is  true  that  after  Father 
Druillettes  returned  to  Quebec  he  was  informed  that 
he  would  not  be  needed  in  Maine  at  that  time.  But 
that  there  could  be  any  dislike  or  jealousy  between 
the  Capuchins  in  Maine  and  himself  is  clearly  dispro- 


200  The  Makers  of  Maine 

ven  by  the  following  quotation  from  a  letter  written 
to  him  in  1648  by  Father  Cosmas  de  Mantes,  then 
superior,  and  preserved  in  the  Jesuit  Relations:  "We 
entreat  your  Reverence,  through  the  holy  love  of  Jesus 
and  Mary,  for  the  salvation  of  these  poor  souls  towards 
the  south,  who  beg  it  of  you  to  give  them  every  assis- 
tance that  your  courageous  and  indefatigable  charity 
can  bestow;  and  if,  in  crossing  the  Kennebec  you  should 
meet  any  of  Ours,  you  will  please  us  if  you  will  make 
known  your  needs  to  them;  and  if  you  have  none  to 
ask,  to  continue  your  holy  instructions  to  those  poor 
abandoned  barbarians  as  much  as  your  charity  will 
permit." 

Besides  the  missions  on  the  Penobscot  and  Kenne- 
bec, it  is  highly  probable  that  other  Capuchin  Fathers 
were  from  time  to  time  at  different  places  along  the 
coast,  as  they  were  frequently  called  upon  to  serve  as 
chaplains  of  French  vessels.  But,  for  the  reason  men- 
tioned before,  the  lack  of  daily  records  kept  by  the 
missionaries  themselves,  little  is  known  of  their  his- 
tory. 


CHAPTER  XXIX 

The  Famous  Mission  to  the 
Abenaki  Indians 

I  come  now  to  the  narration  of  events  which  have 
always  seemed  to  me  of  romantic  interest, — the  story 
of  the  mission  to  the  Abenaki  Indians.  The  mere 
statement  of  the  words, — "Abenaki  Mission,"  natur- 
ally brings  to  our  minds  the  name  of  the  great  Jesuit 
missionary,  one  of  the  greatest  of  all  the  missionaries 
of  those  days, — Father  Sebastian  Rale,  or  as  his  name 
is  often  spelled, — Rasle.  The  life  and  work  of  this 
great  and  good  man  will  always  remain  a  prominent 
marker  in  the  pages  of  Maine's  history,  not  only  because 
of  the  remarkable  results  which  he  accomplished  in 
Christianizing  and  civilizing  the  Indians  of  Maine, 
results  whose  effects  are  seen  to  this  day  in  the  remnants 
of  that  once  great  and  powerful  tribe,  but  also  because 
of  the  valuable  contributions  to  history  which  he  has 
left  to  posterity  in  his  writings,  his  diary  and  letters, 
and  especially  his  invaluable  dictionary  of  the  Abenaki 
language,  which  is  now  in  the  possession  of  Harvard 
University  and  preserved  in  the  library  at    Cambridge. 

In  considering  the  history  of  this  period,  however 
we  must  not  forget  to  give  due  credit  to  the  other  Mis- 
sionary Fathers  who  labored  and  suffered  privation 
and  disease  in  this  land,  now  the  State  of  Maine.  We 
must  not  forget  the  names  of  the  brothers,  Bigot,  nor 
Gabriel  Druillettes. 

Father    Druillettes  was  without  doubt  as  learned 


202  The  Makers  of  Maine 

and  able  a  man  as  Father  Rale;  and  he  certainly  was 
loved  as  much  by  the  Indians  as  Rale;  but  he  had  not 
the  opportunity  to  remain  with  the  Abenaki  Indians 
for  many  years  as  Father  Rale  had.  His  superiors  sent 
him  from  place  to  place.  Druillettes'  name  will  alway 
be  famous  in  history,  as  the  name  of  the  only  Catholic 
priest  ever  sent  on  a  diplomatic  mission  by  the  French 
government  at  Quebec  to  the  English  government  of 
Massachusetts.  He  was  a  minister  plenipotentiary 
with  full  diplomatic  powers.  Moreover,  the  fact  which 
makes  his  career  unique  in  the  history  of  those  days  is 
that  he  was  received  with  all  the  honor  due  a  high  dip- 
lomatic representative,  and,  in  so  far  as  the  results 
of  his  diplomatic  mission  depended  on  his  own  work 
and  efforts,  he  fully  accomplished  the  object  of  the 
mission. 

Before  relating  the  story  of  this  diplomatic  mis- 
sion to  the  English  colonies,  let  us  for  a  moment  con- 
sider the  state  of  the  Massachusetts  English  in  the 
matter  of  religion. 

I  have  said  that  the  Puritans  of  Massachusetts  had 
little  love  for  the  early  English  settlers  in  Maine,  on 
account  of  the  difference  in  religion  between  the  two 
classes  of  Englishmen.  As  we  know,  the  English  in 
Maine  were  principally  of  the  High  Church  persuasion. 
The  adherents  of  this  Church  were  as  abhorrent  to  the 
Puritans  of  Massachusetts,  as  were  the  Catholics. 

.  When  the  Pilgrims  and  the  Puritans  settled  in 
Massachusetts,  they  established  a  true  Theocrasy. 
Only  the  members  enrolled  in  the  Church  had  any 
right  to  a  voice  in  the  governing  of  the  colony;  only 
they  had  the  right  to  vote.  They  not  only  excluded 
Catholics,  but  excluded  all  other  Protestants  who 
differed  from  them  in  religious  faith. 

Roger    Williams,    the    Baptist,    was    driven    out. 


Famous  Mission  to  Abnaki  203 

Gorton,  another  Baptist,  was  flogged  and  driven  out. 
Mrs.  Hutchinson  was  exiled;  the  Quakers  were  hanged. 
In  1631  Sir  Christopher  Gardiner  was  driven  out  of  the 
colony  on  mere  suspicion  of  being  a  Catholic,  without 
trial  and  without  opportunity  to  make  a  defense. 

Roger  Williams,  whom  so  many  historians  have 
so  wrongly  dignified  as  the  "Father  of  Toleration," 
in  America,  declared  the  cross  to  be  the  "relic  of  Anti- 
Christ,"  a  "Papist  symbol  savoring  of  superstition,  and 
not  to  be  countenanced  by  Christian  men,"  and  his 
followers  went  so  far  as  to  cut  the  cross  out  of  the  Eng- 
lish flag,  refusing  to  live  or  fight  under  a  flag  which 
bore  the  sign  accepted  by  all  Christian  nations  as  a 
symbol  of  the  redemption  of  man. 

In  1647  the  General  Court  of  Massachusetts  met 
and  adopted  an  act  to  prevent  the  Jesuits  entering 
their  domains.  I  quote  the  preamble  to  show  the  state 
of  mind  existing  among  those  men: —  "The  court, 
taking  into  consideration  the  great  wars,  combustions 
and  divisions,  which  are  this  day  in  Europe,  and  that 
the  same  are  observed  to  be  raised  and  fomented  chiefly 
by  the  secret  underminings,  and  the  solicitations  of 
those  of  the  Jesuitical  order,  men  brought  up  and 
devoted  to  the  religion  and  the  Court  of  Rome,  which 
had  occasioned  divers  States  to  expel  them  from  their 
territories" — The  act  goes  on '  to  forbid  all  Jesuits 
entering  the  colony  under  penalty  of  death,  but  with 
great  humanity  they  kindly  provided  that  if  a  Jesuit 
should  be  shipwrecked  on  their  shore,  they  would  not 
hang  him. 

It  was  to  such  a  people,  with  such  an  opinion  of  the 
Catholic  Church  and  the  Jesuit  Fathers,  such  a  hatred 
for  the  very  name  of  Jesuit,  that  the  Rev.  Fr.  Gabriel 
Druillettes  S.  J.,  went  in  the  year  1650,  and  was  re- 
ceived with  respect  and  friendliness. 


CHAPTER  XXX 

Father  Druillettes*  Diplomatic 
Mission  to  Boston 

Father  Druillettes  was  born  September  29,  1610. 
He  was  educated  at  a  Jesuit  College  in  France,  and 
came  to  Canada  in  1643.  He  seemed  to  have  a  natural 
aptitude  for  acquiring  languages,  and  became  proficient 
in  several  Indian  dialects.  He  went  for  the  first  time 
to  the  Abenaki  Indians  of  Maine  in  the  year  1646. 
He  stayed  with  them  a  year  and  then  returned  to 
Quebec. 

The  writings  of  Father  Druillettes  make  very  in- 
teresting reading.  He  says  that  his  journey  from  Que- 
bec to  Maine  through  the  forests  was  one  of  inconceiv- 
able difficulty.  The  Abenakis  received  him  with  great 
joy.     He  relates  this  instance: 

"  'A  captain  touched  my  heart.  He  repeated  to  me 
often  in  public  and  in  private  that  he  loved  his  children 
more  than  himself.  'I  have  lost  two  of  them,'  he  ad- 
ded, 'since  thy  departure.  Their  death  is  not  my 
greatest  grief;  but  thou  did  not  baptize  them,  that  is 
what  afflicts  me;  but  I  know  not  whether  I  did  right, 
and  whether  I  shall  ever  see  them  in,  heaven.  If  thou 
thyself  had  baptized  them,  I  would  not  mourn  them, 
or  be  sorry  because  of  their  death;  on  the  contrary  I 
would  be  comforted.  If  to  banish  my  sadness,  thou 
wert  willing  at  least  to  promise  not  to  think  of  Kebec 
for  at  least  ten  years,  and  not  to  leave  us  during  that 
time,  thou  wouldst  show  that  thou  lovest  us.'     There- 


Father  Druillettes  205 

upon  he  conducted  me  to  the  grave  of  his  two  children 
over  whom  he  planted  two  fine  crosses  painted  red, 
which  he  went  to  salute  from  time  to  time.  It  was 
within  sight  of  the  English  themselves,  who  lived  at 
Kousinok,  the  place  where  the  cemetery  of  these  good 
people  is  situated.'  " 

In  the  late  summer  of  the  year  1650  he  left  Quebec 
on  his  diplomatic  mission  to  the  English  of  Boston, 
carrying  letters  giving  him  full  plenipotentiary  powers. 
He  went  by  way  of  the  old  trail  through  Norridgewock 
and  Augusta.  At  Augusta  he  was  received  by  the 
commandant,  John  Winslow,  with  great  respect,  and 
such  was  the  character  of  Druillettes  that  he  at  once 
won  the  lasting  esteem  and  friendship  of  Winslow. 
He  then  proceeded  with  Winslow  to  Merrymeeting  Bay, 
and  embarked  there  for  Boston,  arriving  in  Boston  in 
the  late  fall  on  the  feast  of  the  Immaculate  Conception. 
He  was  received  with  the  respect  due  a  minister  pleni- 
potentiary. He  relates  that  he  was  waited  on  by  the 
principal  men  of  Charlestown,  and  that  Major-Gen- 
eral  Gibbons  invited  him  to  his  house,  and,  he  says, 
"gave  me  the  key  of  a  room  where  I  might  in  all  liberty 
pray  and  perform  the  other  exercises  of  my  religion, 
-and  he  besought  me  to  take  no  other  lodging  while 
in  Boston."  Now,  Father  Druillettes  does  not  say  that 
he  celebrated  Mass  in  his  room,  while  in  Boston,  but 
knowing  what  we  do  of  his  great  piety  and  sanctity, 
we  may  have  every  reason  to  believe  that  he  did,  and 
that  the  Sacrifice  of  the  Mass  was  therefore  offered  in 
Boston  in  December,  1650.  He  was  well  received  by 
Governor  Dudley  at  Boston,  and  by  Governor  Brad- 
ford at  Plymouth.  He  relates  that  while  at  Plymouth, 
Governor  Bradford  invited  him  to  dinner  on  a  Friday, 
and  had  a  special  dinner  of  fish  prepared.  He  spent 
a  night  with  John  Elliot,  the  English  Apostle  to  the 


206  The  Makers  of  maine 

Indians,  and  won  Elliot's  friendship.  In  February 
he  returned  to  the  Kennebec  to  resume  his  missionary 
labors. 

There  is  nothing  in  Father  Druillettes'  Relation 
which  would  lead  one  to  believe  that,  at  that  time, 
there  was  a  single  Catholic  living  in  Boston.  He  says 
that  the  only  Catholic  whom  he  found  on  his  voyage 
was  a  French  sailor  at  York.  He  relates  that  in  the 
year  1651  he  paid  a  second  visit  to  the  English  colonies, 
but  of  that  visit  we  have  no  details.  But,  it  seems 
that  he  went  this  time  as  far  south  as  Hartford,  and 
was  kindly  received  there.  Father  Druillettes  remained 
with  the  Abnaki  Mission  on  the    Kennebec  until  1656. 

The  Boston  and  the  Plymouth  people  were  in 
favor  of  uniting  with  the  French  against  the  Iroquois. 
The  Plymouth  people  were  especially  favorable  to 
Fr.  Druillettes'  diplomatic  mission,  because  their  trade 
with  the  Abenaki  Indians  had  grown  to  quite  consider- 
able proportions.  When  Druillettes  returned  to  Que- 
bec from  his  mission  to  the  English  he  felt  certain 
that  he  had  accomplished  the  alliance  and  friendship 
which  he  so  much  desired.  Although  he  failed,  he  left 
with  the  English  a  different  impression  of  a  Catholic 
priest  than  they  had  previously  held. 

The  English  missionary,  Elliot,  pressed  him  to 
remain  as  his  guest  for  the  winter.  The  name  and 
fame  of  Elliot  are  held  dear  to  the  hearts  of  the  English 
Protestant  writers  of  history.  He  was  to  them  the 
ideal  type  of  missionary.  We  know  that  they  speak 
contemptuously  of  the  French  Jesuits,  and  ascribe 
their  success  with  the  Indians  to  the  fact,  as  they 
charge,  that  the  Jesuits  lived  the  savage  life  and  be- 
came to  all  intents  and  purposes  savages  themselves. 
But  this  view  of  the  Jesuits,  however  pleasing  it  may  be 
to  those  whose  religious  prejudices  prevent  them  from 


Father  Druillettes  207 

admitting  the  truth,  could  not  have  been  the  view  held 
by  Elliot,  and  surely  he  must  have  been  a  good  judge. 
If  Elliot  had  regarded  Father  Druillettes  as  little  better 
than  a  savage,  it  is  unlikely  that  he  would  have  extended 
an  invitation  to  him  to  spend  the  winter  with  him  as 
his  guest. 


CHAPTER  XXXI 

The  romantic  History  of  Father 
Sebastian  Rale,  S.  J. 

The  name  of  Father  Rale,  his  character,  and  his 
activities,  illuminate  the  pages  of  every  history  of  Maine 
ever  written  and  of  every  article  treating  of  this  period 
of  our  history.  That  he  was  a  great  man  is  attested 
by  the  fact,  (if  there  were  no  other  proof)  that  no  other 
man  who  figured  in  the  history  of  those  days  has  been 
so  outrageously  vilified  and  abused  by  Protestant 
writers  of  history  as  Father  Rale.  But  he  has  at  last 
come  into  his  own,  and  his  name  is  now  spoken  with 
respect  and  his  memory  is  revered.  But,  as  I  have 
said,  it  was  not  formerly  so.  The  following  is  William- 
son's characterization  of  him.  (Volume  II,  Page  100.) 
"Rale,  the  famous  Jesuit,  was  deemed  the  principal 
instigator  of  these  insults.  He  was  a  man  of  talents 
and  learning;  and  by  his  condescending  manners,  re- 
ligious zeal,  and  untiring  perseverance,  he  had  greatly 
endeared  himself  to  the  tribe.  He  had  sided  with  them 
and  been  their  tutelar  father  thirty  years;  and  many 
of  them  he  had  taught  to  read  and  write.  To  render 
their  devotion  an  incentive  to  violence,  it  is  said,  he 
kept  a  banner  figured  with  a  cross,  which  was  encircled 
by  bows  and  arrows;  and  while  he  was  giving  them 
absolution  before  they  proceeded  to  war,  or  upon  any 
hostile  expedition,  he  was  in  the  habit  of  suspending; 
the  flag  from  a  tall  standard  at  the  door  of  his  chapel 
aware  of  the  advantages  gained,  if  he  could  give  every 
bold  sally  of  the  Indians,  the  character  of  a  crusade. 


Father  Sebastian  Rale,  S.  J.  209 

Fond  of  epistolary  correspondence,  he  kept  up  a  con- 
stant intercourse  with  Vaudreuil,  the  Governor  of 
Canada;  giving  him  an  account  of  every  settlement, 
fort  or  other  enterprise,  commenced  by  the  English; 
and  receiving  in  return,  advices  how  to  incite  and  direct 
the  Indians  against  the  settlers.  He  sent  Governor 
Shute  a  very  bold  letter,  filled  with  curious  logic,  to 
prove  the  exclusive  right  of  the  Indians  to  the  country 
they  inhabited." 

The  letters  of  Father  Rale  which  have  been  pre- 
served, absolutely  disprove  the  above  assertion,  on  the 
contrary,  absolutely  prove  that  the  assertion  was  made 
by  Williamson  either  in  ignorance  or  in  malice.  As 
to  his  letter  to  Governor  Shute,  at  Boston,  it  was  writ- 
ten for  the  Indians,  at  their  request,  and  it  was  their 
thoughts  put  into  proper  language.  And  indeed,  who 
doubts  now  but  that  it  was  the  truth? 

Williamson  goes  on  to  say:  "The  different  branch- 
es of  the  government  were  not  agreed  what  course  was 
best  to  be  pursued  against  him.  The  House  resolved 
to  send  a  warrant  to  John  Leighton,  sheriff  of  York- 
shire, and  orders  unto  Colonel  Walton,  to  attend  him 
with  a  military  guard  of  150  men,  and  directed  them 
to  proceed  to  Norridgewock,  seize  the  Jesuit,  and  bring 
him  to  Boston,  dead  or  alive;  offering  them  a  reward 
of  500  pounds  sterling  for  his  body,  besides  the  usual 
wages.  If  he  could  not  be  found,  or  if  the  tribe  refused 
to  produce  him,  it  was  ordered  that  several  of  the  prin- 
cipal Indians  be  seized  and  conveyed  to  Boston." 

Several  expeditions  were  sent  by  the  English 
against  Father  Rale,  and,  as  is  well  known,  he  was 
finally  killed,  I  will  relate  the  account  of  his  death 
later.  But  now,  as  I  am  not  writing  history,  but  vi  ws 
of  history,  I  desire  to  quote  more  or  less  from  Father 
Rale's   own    writings.     I    think    that    such    quotations 


210  The  Makers  of  Maine 

from  the  original  letters  of  the  great  and  good  Jesuit 
will  be  of  much  more  interest  to  my  readers  than  bald 
statements  of  facts  of  history. 

In  a  letter  to  his  nephew  in  France,  written  at 
Narrantsouak,  (now  Norridgewock, )  October  15,  1772, 
speaking  of  his  mission  and  his  work,  he  says:  "I  am 
in  a  district  of  this  vast  extent  of  territory  which  lies 
between  Acadia  and  New  England.  Two  other  mis- 
sionaries are,  like  myself,  busy  among  the  Abnaki 
savages;  but  we  are  far  distant  from  one  another.  The 
The  Abnaki  savages,  besides  the  two  villages  which 
they  have  in  the  midst  of  the  French  colony,  have  also 
three  other  important  ones,  each  situated  on  the  bank 
of  a  river.  These  three  rivers  empty  into  the  sea  to 
the  south  of  Canada,  between  New  England  and  Acadia" 
(The  reader  ,  of  course,  recognizes  these  three  rivers 
as  the  Penobscot,  the  Kennebec  and  the  Androscoggin. 
It  is  not  generally  known  at  this  day  that  there  was  a 
Jesuit  mission  along  the  Androscoggin,  but  it  is  a  fact. ) 
"The  village  in  which  I  dwell  is  called  Narrantsouak; 
it  is  situated  on  the  bank  of  a  river,  which  empties  into 
the  sea  thirty  leagues  below.  I  have  built  here  a  church 
which  is  commodious  and  well  adorned.  I  though 
it  my  duty  to  spare  nothing,  either  for  its  decoration 
or  for  the  beauty  of  the  vestments  that  are  used  in 
our  holy  ceremonies;  altar  cloths,  chasubles,  copes, 
sacred  vessels,  everything  is  suitable,  and  would  be 
esteemed  in  the  churches  of  Europe.  I  have  trained 
a  minor  clergy  of  about  forty  young  savages,  who  in 
cassocks  and  surplices  assist  at  divine  service;  each  one 
has  his  duty,  not  only  in  serving  at  the  holy  sacrifice 
of  the  Mass,  but  in  chanting  the  divine  office  at  the 
Benediction  of  the  Blessed  Sacrament,  and  in  the  pro- 
cessions, which  are  made  with  a  great  concourse  of 
savages,  who  often  come  from  a  great  distance  in  order 


Father  Rale,  S.  J.  211 

to  be  present  at  them.  You  would  be  edified  at  the 
good  order  which  they  observe,  and  with  the  reverence 
which  they  show. 

"Two  chapels  have  been  built  about  three  hundred 
steps  from  the  village,  one  which  is  dedicated  to  the 
most  Blessed  Virgin,  and  in  which  her  statue  in  relief 
is  seen,  stands  at  the  head  of  the  river ;  the  other  which 
is  dedicated  to  the  Guardian  Angel  is  below  on  the 
same  river.  As  they  both  are  on  the  path  that  leads 
either  to  the  woods  or  to  the  fields,  the  savages  never 
pass  them  without  offering  prayers  therein. 

"None  of  my  neophytes  fail  to  come  twice  every 
day  to  church, —  in  the  early  morning  to  hear  Mass, 
and  in  the  evening  to  be  present  at  the  prayer  which  I 
offer  at  sunset.  As  it  is  necessary  to  fix  the  thoughts 
of  the  savages,  which  wander  only  too  easily,  I  have 
composed  some  prayers,  suited  to  make  them  enter 
into  the  spirit  of  the  august  Sacrifice  of  our  altars,  they 
chant  these,  or  rather,  they  recite  them  aloud,  during 
Mass.  Besides  the  sermons  that  I  preach  to  them  on 
Sundays  and  on  Feast  Days,  I  seldom  pass  over  a  work- 
ing day  without  making  them  a  short  exhortation,  in 
order  to  ins  pire  them  with  horror  for  the  vices  to  which 
they  have  most  inclination,  or  to  strengthen  them  in 
the  practice  of  some  virtue. 

"After  Mass  I  catechize  the  children  and  the  young 
people;  a  great  number  of  older  persons  are  present, 
and  answer  with  docility  to  the  questions  which  I  ask 
them.  The  remainder  of  the  morning  until  noon  is 
devoted  to  all  those  who  have  anything  to  tell  me. 
At  that  time  they  come  in  crowds  to  reveal  to  me  their 
griefs  and  anxieties,  or  to  tell  me  the  causes  of  their 
complaints  which  they  have  against  their  tribesmen, 
or  to  consult  me  about  their  marriages  or  their  other 
private    affairs.     I    must    instruct    some,    and    console 


212  The  Makers  of  Maine 

others;  re-establish  peace  in  disunited  families,  and 
calm  troubled  consciences;  and  correct  a  few  others 
with  reprimands,  mingled  with  gentleness  and  charity, 
— in  fine,  send  them  all  away  content  as  far  as  I  can. 

M'In  the  afternoon  I  visit  the  sick  and  go  to  the 
cabins  of  those  who  have  need  of  special  instruction. 
If  they  are  holding  a  council,  which  often  happens 
among  the  savages,  they  send  one  of  the  chiefs  to  the 
meeting,  who  begs  me  to  be  present  at  their  delibera- 
tions. I  go  immediately  to  the  place  where  the  council 
is  in  session.  If  I  think  that  they  are  taking  a  wise 
course,  I  approve  of  it;  if,  on  the  contrary,  I  find  any- 
thing amiss  in  their  decision,  I  declare  my  own  opinion, 
which  I  support  with  a  few  sound  reasons  and  they 
conform  to  it.  My  advice  always  determines  their 
decisions.  I  am  invited  even  to  their  feasts.  Each 
guest  brings  a  dish  of  wood  or  of  bark.  I  bless  the 
food;  then  the  prepared  portion  is  put  upon  each  dish. 
The  distribution  having  been  made,  I  say  grace,  and 
each  one  withdraws,  for  such  is  the  course  and  the 
custom  of  their  feasts. 

"In  the  midst  of  these  continual  occupations  you 
can  hardly  believe  with  what  rapidity  the  days  pass 
away.  There  has  been  a  time  when  I  scarcely  had 
time  to  recite  my  office,  or  to  take  a  little  rest  during 
the  night,  for  discretion  is  not  a  virtue  among  the  sav- 
ages. But  for  some  years  past  I  have  made  it  a  rule 
not  to  speak  with  any  one  from  the  hour  of  evening 
prayer  until  after  Mass  the  next  day;  and  I  have  for- 
bidden them  to  interrupt  me  during  that  time,  unless 
it  were  for  some  important  reason,  as  for  instance,  to 
aid  a  dying  person,  or  for  some  other  matter  which 
could  not  be  delayed.  I  used  that  time  for  attending 
to  prayer,  and  resting  from  the  labors  of  the  day. 

"The  whole  Abnakis   Nation  is   Christian  and   is 


Father  Rale,  S.  J.  213 

very  zealous  in  preserving  its  religion.  This  attach- 
ment to  the  Catholic  faith  had  made  it  thus  far  prefer 
an  alliance  with  us  to  the  advantages  that  it  would 
have  obtained  frcm  an  alliance  with  its  English  neigh- 
bors. These  advantages  are  very  attractive  to  our 
savages;  the  readiness  with  which  they  can  engage  in 
trade  with  the  English,  from  whom  they  are  distant 
only  two  or  three  days'  journey,  the  convenience  of  the 
route,  the  great  bargains  they  find  in  the  purchase 
of  goods  which  suit  them,  nothing  could  be  more  likely 
to  attract  them.  Whereas  in  going  to  Quebec  they 
must  travel  more  than  fifteen  days  to  reach  it,  they 
must  be  supplied  with  provisions  for  the  journey,  there 
are  several  rivers  to  cross  and  frequent  portages  to 
make.  They  feel  these  inconveniences,  and  they  are 
not  indifferent  to  their  own  interests;  but  their  faith 
is  infinitely  dearer  to  them,  and  they  believe  that  if 
they  were  to  break  off  their  connection  with  us  they 
would  very  soon  be  without  a  missionary,  without  Sac- 
raments, without  the  Sacrifice,  almost  without  any  ser- 
vice of  religion,  and  in  manifest  danger  of  being  plunged 
back  into  their  former  unbelief.  This  is  the  bond  which 
unites  them  to  the  French.  There  have  been  vain 
endeavors  to  break  this  bond — both  by  snares  that  have 
been  laid  for  their  simplicity,  and  by  violence,  which 
could  not  fail  to  irritate  a  tribe  so  infinitely  jealous  as 
this  is  of  its  rights  and  liberty.  These  beginnings  of 
misunderstanding  continue  to  alarm  me,  and  make  me 
fear  the  dispersion  of  the  flock  which  Providence  has 
confided  to  my  care  for  so  many  years,  and  for  which  I 
would  willingly  sacrifice  all  that  remains  to  me  in  life. 
See  the  various  artifices  to  which  the  English  have  re- 
sorted to  detach  them  from  the  alliance  with  us." 


CHAPTER  XXXII 

The  Relentless  Persecution  of  Father 
Rale  by  the  English 

I  have  said  that  several  attempts  were  made  by 
the  English  to  capture  Father  Rale,  before  they  finally 
succeeded  in  killing  him.  I  desire  now  to  quo  te  the 
words  of  Williamson,  the  historian,  concerning  one  of 
the  attempts  to  capture  the  priest,  and  then  Father 
Rale's  own  account  of  the  occurrence.  It  may  be  of 
interest  to  compare  the  two  accounts,  the  one  taken 
from  the  English  records,  the  other  the  very  words  of 
the  hunted  and  persecuted  priest. 

Williamson  says,  (Volume  II,  page  124).  "Un- 
attended by  the  French,  and  kept  in  awe  by  the  English 
ranging  parties,  the  Indians  undertook  no  winter  cam- 
paign; nor  was  anything  memorable  achieved  by  our 
forces  till  spring.  But  there  was  still  a  strong  and 
universal  desire  to  make  Rale  a  prisoner  and  have  him 
brought  to  Boston  alive.  It  is  said  a  thousand  livres 
was  the  high  price  set  upon  his  head.  To  dispatch 
him,  therefore,  or  rather  to  take  him,  Captain  Moul- 
ton  led  a  military  party  to  Norridgewock  in  the  depth 
of  winter.  But  the  cautious  Jesuit  and  the  tribe  had 
made  a  seasonable  and  safe  retreat,  and  all  the  trophies 
of  the  enterprise  were  only  a  few  books  and  papers 
found  in  his  own  dwelling  house,  among  which  was  a 
letter  from  the  Governor  of  Canada  exhorting  him  to 
'push  on  the  Indians  with  all  imaginable  zeal  against 
the    English.'     But    Captain   Moulton   was   no     less   a 


Persecution  of  Father  Rale  215 

cool  and  discreet  man,  than  a  brave  and  popular  officer 
and  when  he  and  his  men  had  left  the  place  he  permitted 
no  injury  to  be  done,  either  to  the  chapel  or  any  other 
building;  imagining  probably  such  an  example  of  for- 
bearance and  moderation  might  be  imitated  by  the 
enemy." 

The  following  is  Father  Rale's  account  in  his  own 
words  written  to  his  nephew:  "The  attempt  of  the 
English  against  myself  was  the  second  act  of  hostility 
which  brought  to  a  climax  the  excessive  irritation  of 
the  Abnaki  tribe.  A  missionary  can  scarcely  fail  to 
be  an  object  of  hate  to  these  gentlemen.  Love  for  the 
religion  which  he  endeavors  to  impress  upon  the  hearts 
of  those  savages  holds  these  neophytes  firmly  in  unon 
with  us  and  separates  them  from  the  English.  The 
latter,  therefore,  regard  me  as  an  invincible  obstacle 
to  their  plan  of  spreading  themselves  over  the  territory 
of  the  Abnakis,  and  of  gradually  seizing  this  mainland 
which  is  between  New  England  and  Acadia.  (The 
reader  recognizes  the  writer  to  mean  what  is  now  the 
State  of  Maine.)  They  have  often  attempted  to  re- 
move me  from  my  flock  and  more  than  once  a  price 
has  been  set  upon  my  head.  It  was  about  the  end  of 
January  in  the  year  1722  when  they  made  anew  attempt 
which  had  no  other  success  than  to  manifest  their  ill 
will  toward  me.  I  had  remained  alone  in  the  village 
with  a  small  number  of  old  men  and  feeble  folk,  while 
the  rest  of  the  savages  were  at  the  hunt.  That  time 
appeared  favorable  to  the  enemy  for  surprising  me; 
and,  with  this  in  view,  they  sent  out  a  detachment  of 
two  hundred  men.  Two  young  Abnakis,  who  were 
hunting  on  the  seashore,  heard  that  the  Englih 
had  entered  the  river,  they  immediately  turned 
their  steps  to  that  quarter,  so  as  to  observe  the  move- 
ments of  the  English.     Having  perceived  them  about 


216  The  Makers  of  Maine 

ten  leagues  from  the  village,  these  savages  outran  them 
by  crossing  the  country,  that  they  might  inform  me, 
and  help  the  old  men,  women  and  children  to  retire  in 
haste.  I  had  only  time  to  consume  the  hosts,  to  enclose 
in  a  small  box  the  sacred  vessels,  and  to  escape  into  the 
woods.  Towards  evening,  the  English  reached  the 
village;  and  not  having  found  me  there,  they  came 
the  next  day  to  look  for  me  in  the  very  place  of  our 
retreat.  They  were  within  only  a  gunshot  when  we 
descried  them;  all  that  I  could  do  was  to  plunge  with 
haste  into  the  forest.  But  as  I  had  no  time  to  take  my 
snowshoes,  and  as,  besides,  I  still  experienced  great 
weakness  caused  by  a  fall,  in  which  some  years  ago  my 
thigh  and  leg  were  broken,  it  was  not  possible  for  me  to 
run  very  far.  The  only  resource  that  remained  to  me 
was  to  hide  behind  a  tree.  They  immediately  searched 
the  various  paths  worn  by  the  savages  when  they  go 
for  wood,  and  came  within  eight  steps  of  the  tree  that 
was  sheltering  me,  where  naturally  they  must  have 
perceived  me,  for  the  trees  had  shed  their  leaves;  never- 
theless, as  if  they  had  been  driven  away  by  an  invisible 
hand,  they  suddenly  retraced  their  steps,  and  again 
took  the  way  to  the  village.  Thus  it  was  by  a  special 
protection  of  Providence  that  I  escaped  from  their 
pursuit.  They  pillaged  my  church  and  my  little  house, 
thereby  almost  reducing  me  to  a  death  from  starvation 
in  the  midst  of  the  woods.  It  is  true  that,  when  my 
adventure  was  known  in  Quebec,  provisions  were  sent 
to  me  immediately;  but  they  could  not  arrive  for  some 
time,  and  during  that  period  I  was  deprived  of  all  aid 
and  in  extreme  need." 

It  is  a  fact,  that  in  those  days,  as  now,  much  of  the 
fear  and  hatred  which  the  Protestants  had  of  the 
Jesuits  was  caused  by  a  deep-seated,  monumental,  and 
almost  inconceivable  ignorance  of  the  priests  of  this 


*  £ 


<-, 


>, 


Persecution  of  Father  Rale  217 

society  as  men,  as  fellow  human  beings.  The  Protes- 
tant colonists  of  those  days  rarely  came  in  contact 
with  a  Jesuit  in  the  flesh.  Indeed  we  may  well  say, 
never  came  in  contact  with  a  priest  of  any  description, 
for  the  "Romish"  priests  were  a  proscribed  race  of  men 
in  the  New  England  colonies.  For  the  matter  of  that, 
at  that  time  Jesuit  priests  were  unknown  in  England. 
It  was  believed  that  at  different  times  some  were  within 
the  British  borders  in  disguise;  but  the  reader 
will  remember  how,  in  an  earlier  article,  of  this  series, 
it  was  related  concerning  Father  Biard,  that  when  he 
was  in  England  as  a  sort  of  half  prisoner,  half  guest, 
he  was  as  great  a  curiosity  to  the  English,  even  those 
of  the  cultured  and  educated  classes,  as  an  Indian  sav- 
age himself.  Even  in  our  own  day,  in  this  State,  we 
have  seen  the  fogs  of  bigotry  and  religious  prejudice 
dissipated  by  the  mere  fact  of  every  day  contact  with 
priests  and  nuns. 

In  the  time  of  the  Jesuit  missions  we  find  that  it 
was  the  English  who  lived  at  a  distance  from  the  mis- 
sions, those  who  lived  in  Boston  and  other  parts  of 
Massachusetts,  who  hated  and  feared  the  Jesuits. 
We  gather  from  reading  the  Relations  of  the  Jesuits, 
that  the  English  traders,  who  lived  at  the  Kousinok 
settlement  on  the  Kennebec  (at  what  is  now  the  city  of 
Augusta)  saw  a  good  deal  of  the  Jesuits  of  the  Kenne- 
bec mission  and  liked  them  very  well.  Those  men 
could,  and  did,  testify  that  the  work  and  influence  of 
the  priests  among  the  Indians  was  all  for  good. 
But  unfortunately,  those  traders  were  men  of  little 
education,  men  of  action,  makers  of  history  rather 
than  writers  of  history,  and  they  left  no  memoirs  behind 
them.  My  only  proof  of  this  statement  and  contention 
is  the  secondary  evidence  of  the  Jesuits  themselves,  that 
the  traders  on  the  Kennebec  were  friendly  toward  them. 


218  The  Makers  of  Maine 

It  has  often  been  a  matter  of  speculation  why  it 
happened  that  the  Protestant  missionaries  met  with 
such  little  success  in  their  efforts  to  convert  the  Indians 
to  the  Protestant  version  of  Christianity.  Many  writ- 
ers dismiss  the  subject,  with  a  certain  smug  self-satis- 
faction and  superiority,  by  assuming  that  the  ornate 
ceremonies  of  the  Catholic  Church  appealed  to  the 
childish  intelligence  of  the  savages,  that,  in  other  words, 
the  conversion  of  the  Indians  was  a  matter  of  the  emo- 
tions only,  and  not  the  abiding  convictions  of  the  in- 
tellect. 

Let  us  read  the  words  of  Father  Rale  on  this  mat- 
ter. He  says,  in  a  letter  to  his  nephew:  "Some  years 
ago,  the  Governor  General  of  New  England  sent  to  the 
foot  of  our  river  the  most  able  man  among  the  ministers 
of  Boston,  that  he  might  open  a  school  there,  instruct 
the  children  of  the  savages,  and  maintain  them  at  the 
expense  of  the  government.  As  the  salary  of  the  minister 
was  to  increase  in  proportion  to  the  number  of  his  pu- 
pils, he  neglected  no  means  to  attain  them;  he  went 
to  seek  the  children,  he  flattered  them,  he  made  them 
little  presents,  he  urged  them  to  come  and  see  him, 
in  short,  he  worked  for  two  months  with  much  useless 
activity,  without  being  able  to  win  a  single  child.  The 
disdain  with  which  his  attentions  and  his  invitations 
were  treated  did  not  discourage  him.  He  spoke  to  the 
savages  themselves;  he  put  to  them  various  questions 
touching  their  faith;  and  then,  from  the  answers  that 
were  made  to  him,  he  turned  into  derision  the  sacra- 
ments, purgatory,  the  invocation  of  the  saints,  the 
beads,  the  crosses,  the  images,  the  lights  of  our  churches, 
and  all  the  pious  customs  that  are  so  sacredly  observed 
in  the  Catholic  religion. 

"  'I  thought  it  was  my  duty  to  oppose  these  first 
attempts  to  mislead ;  I  wrote  a  civil  letter  to  the  minis- 


Persecution  of  Father  Rale  219 

ter,  in  which  I  told  him  that  my  Christians  knew  how 
to  believe  the  truths  which  the  Catholic  Faith  teaches, 
but  they  did  not  know  how  to  discuss  them;  that  as 
they  were  not  sufficiently  learned  to  solve  the  difficul- 
ties which  he  had  proposed  he  had  evidently  intended 
that  they  should  be  communicated  to  me;  that  I  seized 
with  pleasure  this  opportunity  that  he  had  offered  me, 
to  confer  with  him  either  by  word  of  mouth  or  by  letter; 
that  I  thereupon  sent  him  a  memoir  and  besought  him 
to  read  it  with  serious  attention.  In  this  memoir 
which  was  about  a  hundred  pages,  I  proved  by  script- 
ture,  by  tradition,  and  by  theological  arguments  the 
truths  which  he  had  attacked  by  such  stale  jests.  I 
added,  in  closing  my  letter,  that  if  he  were  not  satisfied 
with  my  proofs,  I  would  expect  from  him  a  precise 
refutation,  supported  by  theological  proofs,  and  not  by 
vague  arguments  which  prove  nothing, — still  less  by 
injurious  reflections,  which  befitted  neither  our  pro- 
fession nor  the  importance  of  the  subject  in  question. 
"Two  days  after  receiving  my  letter,  he  set  out 
to  return  to  Boston;  he  sent  me  a  short  answer,  which 
I  was  obliged  to  read  several  times  in  order  to  compre- 
hend its  meaning,  so  obscure  was  its  style  and  so  extra- 
ordinary its  Latin  However,  by  dint  of  reflection,  I 
understood  that  he  complained  that  I  had  attacked 
him  without  reason;  that  zeal  for  the  salvation  of  souls 
had  led  him  to  teach  the  savages  the  way  to  Heaven; 
and  that,  for  the  rest,  my  proofs  were  absurd  and  child- 
ish. Having  sent  to  him  in  Boston  a  second  letter,  in 
which  I  pointed  out  the  defects  of  his  own,  he  answered 
me  at  the  end  of  two  years,  without  even  entering  upon 
the  subject;  and  said  that  I  had  a  peevish  and  fault- 
finding spirit  which  was  the  sign  of  a  temperament 
inclined    to    anger.     Thus    was    finished    our    dispute, 


220  The  Makers  of  Maine 

which  drove  away  the  minister,  and  brought  to  naught 
the  scheme  that  he  had  formed  to  mislead  my  neo- 
phytes." 


CHAPTER  XXXIII 

Father  Rale's  Influence  Upon 
The  Indians 

I  will  quote  a  sermon  of  Father  Rale's  to  the  In- 
dians. A  tribe  who  were  not  Christians  came  to  the 
village  where  Father  Rale's  Christian  Abenakis  lived 
and  witnessed  a  procession  of  Corpus  Christi  day. 
He  says: 

"This  spectacle,  which  was  new  to  the  Amalingans, 
touched  them,  and  struck  them  with  admiration.  I 
believed  it  my  duty  to  profit  by  the  favorable  mood  in 
which  they  were;  and  after  having  brought  them  to- 
gether, I  made  them  the  following  address  in  the  savage 
style : 

"My  children,  for  a  long  time  I  have  desired  to 
see  you;  now,  that  I  have  this  happiness,  my  heart  is 
full,  almost  to  bursting.  Think  of  the  joy  that  a 
father  has,  who  tenderly  loves  his  children,  when  he 
sees  them  again  after  a  long  absence  in  which  they  have 
run  great  dangers,  and  you  will  conceive  a  part  of  mine. 
For,  although  you  do  not  as  yet  pray,  I  nevertheless 
look  upon  you  as  my  children,  and  have  for  you  a  fath- 
er's tenderness,  because  you  are  the  children  of  the 
Great  Spirit,  who  has  given  life  to  you,  as  well  as  to 
those  who  pray;  who  has  made  Heaven  for  you  as  well 
as  for  them ;  who  thinks  of  you  as  he  thinks  of  them  and 
of  me,  and  who  desires  that  all  should  enjoy  eternal 
happiness.  What  causes  my  sorrow  and  diminishes 
my  joy  in  seeing  you  is  the  thought,  which  I  have  at 


222  The  Makers  of  Maine 

this  moment,  that  some  day  I  shall  be  separated   from 
a  part  of  my  children,  whose  destiny  will  be  eternally 
unfortunate  because  they  do  not  pray;  while  the  others, 
who  pray,  will  be  in  joy  which  will  never  end.     When 
I  think  of  this  sad  separation,  can  I  have  a  contented 
heart?     The    happiness   of    those   who   pray   does   not 
give  me  so  much  joy  as  the  unhappiness  of  those    who 
do  not  pray  grieves  me.     If  you  have    insurmountable 
obstacles  to  prayer,  and  if,  remaining  in  the  condition 
in  which  you  are,  I  were  able  to  make  you  enter  into 
Heaven,  I  would  spare  nothing  in  order  to  procure  for 
you   this  happiness.     I   would   urge  you   on,    I   would 
make  you  all  enter  there,  so  much  do  I  love  you,  and  so 
much  do  I  desire  that  you  should  be  happy;  but  that 
is  not  possible.     You   must   pray,    and   you   must   be 
baptized,  that  you  may  be  able  to  enter  that  place  of 
delight." 

There  is  much  more  of  it,  but  the  foregoing  will 
suffice  to  show  how  well  Father  Rale  understood  how 
to  talk  to  the  Indians.  He  relates  that  he  afterwards 
succeeded  in  baptizing  this  whole  tribe,  men,  women 
and  children,  without  one  exception. 

About  the  first  of  August  in  the  year  1721  there 
was  a  conference  between  the  Indians  and  the  English 
Governor  and  his  representatives,  held  at  Arowsick 
at  the  mouth  of  the  Kennebec.  Williamson,  (Volume 
II,  page  106)  says  that  there  were  200  Indians  accom- 
panied by  Fathers  Rale,  La  Chase,  Croisel,  and  Castine 
the  Younger.  He  says  that  they  were  well  armed  and 
carried  the  French  colors,  and  that  they  presented  a 
letter  to  the  Governor  purporting  to  come  from  the  sev- 
eral tribes  and  declaring  that  if  "the  settlers  did  not 
remove  in  three  weeks,  the  Indians  would  come  and 
kill  them  all,  destroy  their  cattle,  and  burn  their  houses, 
for,  they  added,  you  Englishmen  have  taken  away  the 


Father  Rale's  Influence  223 

lands  which  the  Great  God  has  given  our  fathers  and  us." 
I  mention  the  above  as  related  by  Williamson 
because  it  is  one  of  the  many  instances  of  misrepre- 
sentation of  the  facts  in  order  to  prove  his  assertion 
that  the  Jesuit  Rale  inspired  and  stirred  up  the  Indians 
to  strife.  Fortunately,  it  happens  that  Father  Rale 
mentions  this  very  same  conference;  and  his  descrip- 
tion and  relation  are  as  follows: 

"At  the  time  when  war  was  on  the  point^of  break- 
ing out  between  the  European  powers,  the  English 
Governor,  who  had  recently  arrived  in  Boston,  asked 
our  savages  to  give  him  an  interview  on  an  island  in 
the  sea  which  he  designated.  They  consented  and 
begged  me  to  accompany  them,  that  they  might  con- 
sult me  about  the  crafty  propositions  that  would  be 
made  to  them,  so  as  to  be  sure  that  their  answers 
should  contain  nothing  contrary  to  religion,  or  to  the 
interests  of  the  Royal  service.  I  followed  them,  and 
my  intention  was  to  keep  wholly  within  their  quarters, 
in  order  to  aid  them  by  my  counsel  Without  appear- 
ing before  the  Governor.  As  we,  numbering  more 
than  two  hundred  canoes,  were  approaching  the  island, 
the  English  saluted  us  by  a  discharge  of  all  the  guns 
of  their  vessels,  and  the  savages  responded  to  this  sa- 
lute by  a  like  discharge  of  all  their  guns.  Then  the 
Governor  appearing  on  the  island,  the  savages  landed 
in  haste;  thus  I  found  myself  where  I  did  not  wish  to 
be,  and  where  the  Governor  did  not  wish  me  to  be. 
As  soon  as  he  perceived  me,  he  came  forward  a  few  steps 
to  meet  me;  and  after  the  usual  compliments,  he  re- 
turned to  the  midst  of  his  people,  and  I  to  my  savages. 
"It  is  commanded  by  our  Queen"  he  said  to  therri, 
"that  I  come  to  see  you;  she  desires  that  we  live  in  peace. 
If  any  Englishmen  should  be  imprudent  enough  to  do 
you  wrong;  do  not  think  of  avenging  yourselves  upon 


224  The  Makers  of  Maine 

him,  but  immediately  address  your  complaint  to  me, 
and  I  will  render  you  prompt  justice.  If  we  should 
happen  to  have  war  with  the  French,  remain  neutral, 
and  do  not  take  part  in  our  differences;  the  French  are 
as  strong  as  we,  therefore  leave  us  to  settle  our  quarrels 
with  each  other.  We  will  supply  all  your  wants,  we 
will  take  your  peltries,  and  we  will  give  you  our  goods 
at  a  reasonable  price."  My  presence  prevented  him 
saying  all  that  he  intended;  for  it  was  not  without  a 
design  that  he  had  brought  a  minister  with  him. 

"When  he  had  finished  speaking,  the  savages 
withdrew  for  the  purpose  of  deliberating  together  upon 
the  answer  that  they  should  make.  During  that  time, 
the  Governor  taking  me  aside,  said  to  me,  "Monsieur, 
I  beg  of  you.  do  not  influence  your  Indians  to  make  war 
upon  us."  I  answered  him  that  my  religion  and  my 
office  of  priest  were  a  security  that  I  would  give  them 
only  exhortations  to  peace.  I  was  still  speaking  when 
I  found  myself  surrounded  by  about  twenty  young 
warriors,  who  were  fearing  that  the  Governor  intended 
to  carry  me  off.  In  the  meantime  the  savages  ad- 
vanced, and  one  of  them  made  the  following  reply  to 
the  Governor: 

"Great  Captain,  thou  tellest  us  not  to  join  ourselves 
with  the  Frenchmen,  in  case  thou  declare  war  upon 
him;  thou  knowest  that  the  Frenchman  is  my  brother. 
We  have  the  same  prayer;  he  and  I;  and  we  are  in  the 
same  cabin  with  two  fires;  he  has  one  fire,  and  I  have 
the  other.  If  I  see  thee  enter  the  cabin  on  the  side 
of  the  fire  where  my  brother  the  Frenchman  is  seated, 
I  watch  thee  from  my  mat,  where  I  am  seated  by  the 
other  fire.  If  in  watching  thee,  I  perceive  that  thou 
earnest  a  hatchet  I  shall  think,  what  does  the  English- 
man intend  to  do  with  that  hatchet?  Then  I  stand 
upon  my  mat,  to  behold  what  he  will  do.     If  he    raises 


Father  Rale's  Influence  225 

the  hatchet  to  strike  my  brother  the  Frenchman,  I 
take  my  own,  and  I  run  toward  the  Englishman  to 
strike  him.  Could  I  see  my  brother  struck  in  my 
cabin,  and  I  remain  on  my  mat?  No,  no,  I  love  my 
brother  too  well  not  to  defend  him.  Therefore,  I 
say  to  thee,  Great  Captain,  do  nothing  to  my 
brother,  and  I  shall  do  nothing  to  thee;  remain  quiet 
on  thy  mat,  and  I  shall  remain  at  rest  on    mine." 

I    think   the    foregoing    quotation   will    effectually 
dispose  of  Williamson's   and   others   contentions,    that 
the  Jesuit  influenced  the  Indians  to  attack  the  English. 
The  Indians  were  never  such  children.     They  decided 
these  matters  for  themselves. 


CHAPTER  XXXIII 

Death  of  Father  Rale— Two  Widely 
Different  Accounts 

Much  more  could  be  written  concerning  the  inter- 
esting events  in  the  life  and  missionary  work  of  Father 
Rale  in  Maine.  But  enough,  I  think,  has  been  set  down 
to  give  the  reader  an  idea  of  Rale,  the  man,  and  the 
missionary  priest,  the  great  work  he  did,  the  remarkable 
results  he  accomplished,  his  commanding  ability  and 
his  saintly  character.  With  the  passing  of  years  and 
the  softening  of  the  harshness  of  religious  prejudice, 
Father  Rale  has  come  into  his  own.  Today,  he  is 
regarded  as  a  saint  and  a  martyr. 

Nothing  remains  for  me,  but  to  relate  in  a  few 
words  the  well  known  story  of  his  death,  call  it — the 
murder  of  Father  Rale,  or  the  martyrdom  of  Father 
Rale,  as  your  feelings  prompt.  And  following  once 
more  the  custom  that  I  have  pursued  in  discussing  his 
life  and  his  character,  I  shall,  in  describing  his  death, 
quote  first  the  words  of  the  relation  to  be  found  in 
Williamson's  History  of  Maine,  and  then  the  relation 
of  a  sympathetic  friend,  a  Jesuit,  the  Rev.  Father 
Pierre  Joseph  de  la  Chasse,  S.  J.,  Superior  General 
of  the  Missions  in  New  France  at  Quebec. 

Williamson  says,  (Vol.  II,  page  129):  "Norridge- 
wock,  being  still  the  residence  of  Rale,  was  immediately 
marked  for  destruction.  The  execution  of  this  enter- 
prise was  committed  to  a  detachment  of  208  men,  who 
were  divided   into   four   companies,    and     commanded 


The  Death  of  Father  Rale  227 

by  Captains  Moulton,  Harmon,  Bourne  and  Bane. 
They  left  Richmond  fort,  their  place  of  rendesvouz,  on 
the  19th  of  August  (1724),  and  ascended  the  river  in 
seventeen  whale  boats,  attended  by  three  Mohawks. 
The  next  day,  they  arrived  at  Teconnet,  where  they 
left  their  whale  boats,  and  a  lieutenant  with  a  guard  of 
40  men.  The  residue  of  the  forces,  on  the  21st,  took 
up  their  march  through  the  woods  towards  Norridge- 
wock.  The  same  evening,  they  discovered  three  of 
the  natives  and  fired  upon  them.  The  noted  Boma- 
zeen,  one  of  them,  was  shot  swimming  the  river,  as  he 
attempted  to  escape,  his  daughter  was  fatally  wounded, 
and  his  wife  taken  prisoner.  From  her,  they  obtained 
a  full  account  of  Rale  and  the  Indians  at  Norridgewock 
which  quickened  their  march. 

"A  little  after  noon,  on  the  22nd,  they  came  in 
sight  of  the  village,  when  it  was  determined  to  divide 
the  detachment.  Captain  Harmon  led  off  about  60 
men  toward  the  mouth  of  the  Sandy  river,  imagining 
he  saw  smoke  arising  in  that  quarter,  and  supposing 
some  of  the  Indians  might  be  at  their  cornfields.  Cap- 
tain Moulton  formed  his  men  into  three  bands,  nearly 
equal  in  numbers,  and  proceeded  directly  towards  the 
village.  When  near  it,  he  placed  parties  in  ambush, 
on  the  right  and  left,  and  led  forward  the  residue  to  the 
attack,  excepting  ten  men  left  to  guard  the  baggage.  He 
commanded  his  men  to  reserve  their  fire  till  after  that 
of  the  Indians;  and  then  boldly  advanced  with  so  quick 
a  step  and  in  such  profound  silence,  that  they  were 
within  pistol  shot  before  their  approach  was  suspected. 
All  the  Indians  were  in  their  wigwams,  when  one,  hap- 
pening to  step  out,  looked  and  discovered  the  Eng- 
lish close  upon  them.  He  instantly  gave  the 
warhoop,  and  seized  his  gun.  The  amazement  of 
the     whole     village    was    indiscriminate    and  terrible. 


228  The  Makers  of  Maine 

The  fighting  men,  about  60  in  all,  seized  their  guns 
and  fired  at  the  assailants;  but  in  their  tremor,  they 
overshot  them,  and  not  a  man  was  hurt.  A  discharge 
was  instantly  returned,  which  did  effectual  execution. 
The  Indians  fired  a  second  volley,  without  breaking 
Moulton's  ranks;  then  flying  to  the  water,  fell  upon  the 
muzzles  of  the  guns  in  ambush.  Several  instantly  fell. 
Some  undertook  to  wade  or  swim  across  the  river  which 
at  this  season  was  only  60  feet  wide,  and  in  no  place 
more  than  six  feet  deep.  A  few  jumped  into  their 
canoes,  but  forgetting  to  take  their  paddles,  were  unable 
to  escape;  and  all,  especially  the  old  men,  women  and 
children  fled  in  every  direction.  Our  soldiers  shot 
them  in  their  flight  to  the  woods  also  upon  the  water; 
so  that  not  more  than  50  of  the  whole  village  were 
supposed  to  have  landed  on  the  opposite  side  of  the 
river ;  while  about  150  effected  an  escape  too  far  into  the 
thickets  to  be  overtaken. 

"The  pursuers  then  returned  to  the  village,  where 
they  found  the  Jesuit,  in  one  of  the  wigwams,  firing 
upon  a  few  of  our  men,  who  had  not  followed  the  wretch- 
ed fugitives.  He  had  with  him  in  the  wigwam  an 
English  boy  about  14  years  of  age,  who  had  been  a 
prisoner  for  six  months.  This  boy  he  shot  through 
the  thigh,  and  afterwards  stabbed  him  in  the  body, 
though  he  ultimately  recovered.  Moulton  had  given 
orders  to  spare  the  life  of  Rale;  but  Jacques,  a  lieutenant 
finding  he  was  firing  from  the  wigwam  and  had  wounded 
one  of  our  men,  stove  open  the  door  and  shot  him 
through  the  head.  As  an  excuse  for  this  act,  Jacques 
alleged  that  when  he  entered  the  wigwam,  Rale  was 
loading  his  gun  and  declaring  he  would  neither  give 
nor  take  quarter.  Moulton  disapproved  of  what 
was  done;  allowing,  however,  that  Rale  said  something 


The  Death  of  Father  Rale  229 

to  provoke  Jacques,  yet  doubting,  if  the  statement 
made  by  him  was  literally  correct. 

"Mott,  an  aged  and  noted  chief,  was  shut  up  in 
another  wigwam,  from  which  he  fired  and  killed  one 
of  the  three  Mohawks.  This  so  enraged  his  brother, 
that  he  broke  through  the  door  and  shot  the  old  Saga- 
more dead;  and  the  soldiers  despatched  his  squaws  and 
children. 

"Near  night,  after  the  action  was  over  and  the 
village  cleared  of  Indians,  Captain  Harmon  and  his 
party  arrived;  and  the  companies  under  a  guard  of  40 
men,  took  up  a  lodgment  in  the  wigwam  till  morning. 
When  it  was  light  they  counted,  as  two  authors  state, 
twenty-seven,  and  a  third  says,  thirty  dead  bodies,  in- 
cluding Rale;  among  whom  were  those  of  Mogg,  Job, 
Carabesett,  Wissemenet,  and  Bomaseen's  son-in-law,  all 
known  and  noted  warriors.  They  also  recovered  three 
captives  and  took  four  prisoners;  and  it  was  afterwards 
reported,  that  they  wounded  fourteen  Indians  who  es- 
caped. The  whole  number  killed  and  drowned  was  sup- 
posed to  be  eighty,  some  say  more.  The  plunder  brought 
away,  consisted  of  the  plate  furniture  of  the  altar, 
a  few  guns,  blankets  and  kettles,  and  about  three  bar- 
rels of  powder.  After  leaving  the  place,  on  their  march 
to  Teconnet,  Christian,  one  of  the  Mohawks,  either 
sent  back  or  returning  of  his  own  accord,  set  fire  to  the 
chapel  and  cottages,  and  they  were  all  burnt  to  ashes." 

After  quoting  the  account  of  the  death  of  Fathei 
Rale  as  given  by  Chalevoix  in  his  "Histoire  de  la  Nou- 
velle  France,"  which  differs  essentially  from  his  own, 
and  dismissing  it  with  a  sneer  at  what  he  calls  its  "em- 
bellishments," (although  I  can  testify,  as  can  any 
one  who  reads  Charlevoix,  that  it  is  singularly  free 
from  embellishments,)  Williamson  goes  on  as  follows: 

"On   the  27th  the  brave  detachment  arrived  at  Fort 


230  The  Makers  of  Maine 

Richmond,  without  the  loss  of  a  man.  It  was  an 
exploit  exceedingly  gratifying  to  the  community,  and 
considered  as  brilliant  as  any  other,  in  either  of  the 
Indian  wars,  since  the  fall  of  King  Phillip,  Harmon 
who  was  senior  in  command,  proceeded  to  Boston 
with  the  scalps,  and  received  in  reward  for  the  achieve- 
ment the  commission  of  lieutenant-colonel;  an  achieve- 
ment in  which  Moulton  had  the  principal  agency, 
although  he  received  no  distinguishing  recompense, 
except  the  universal  applause  of  his  country." 
be     The  italics  are  mine.     The  whole  story  ought  to 

quoted  in  italics,  it  is  so  extraordinary. 
One  wonders  in  what  does  the  bravery  consist 
to  slaughter  defenseless  Indian  women  and  children, 
and  to  murder  one  poor,  old,  helpless  priest,  for  of 
course,  no  one  for  a  moment  believes  the  story  that  the 
Jesuit  was  found  armed  in  a  wigwam,  firing  upon  the 
English,  and  killing  in  cold  blood  a  young  English  boy, 
fourteen  years  of  age. 

Let  us  return  to  the  "Relations  des  Jesuits,"  and  read 
a  part  of  the  letter  written  by  the  Rev.  Father  de  la 
Chasse,  Superior-General  of  the  missions  in  New  France, 
which  will  tell  the  story  somewhat  differently,  and 
nearer  the  truth: 

Quebec,  Oct.  29,  1724. 
My  Reverend  Father: 

The  peace  of  Our  Lord. 

In  the  deep  grief  that  we  are  experiencing 
from  the  loss  of  our  oldest  missionary,  it  is  a 
grateful  consolation  to  us  that  he  should  have 
been  the  victim  of  his  own  love,  and  of  his  zeal 
to  maintain  the  Faith  in  the  hearts  of  his  neo- 
phytes. From  other  letters  you  have  already 
learned  the  origin  of  the  war  which  broke  out 
between   the   English   and   the   savages;   with 


The  Death  of  Father  Rale  231 

the  former,  a  desire  to  extend  their  rule;  with 
the  latter,  a  horror  of  all  subjection,  and  an 
attachment  to  their  religion,  these  caused,  in  the 
beginning,  the  misunderstandings  which  in  the 
end  were  followed  by  an  open  rupture. 

Father  Rale,  the  missionary  of  the  Abnakis 
had  become  very  odious  to  the  English.  As 
they  were  convinced  that  his  endeavors  to 
confirm  the  savages  in  the  Faith  constituted 
the  greatest  obstacle  to  their  plan  of  usurping 
the  territory  of  the  savages,  they  put  a  [rice up- 
on his  head;  and  more  than  once  had  attempted 
to  abduct  him,  or  to  take  his  life.  At  last  they 
have  succeeded  in  gratifying  their  passion  of 
hatred,  and  in  ridding  themselves  of  the  aposto- 
lic man,  but,  at  the  same  time,  they  have  pro- 
cured for  him  a  glorious  death,  which  was  ever 
the  object  of  his  desire,  for  we  know  that  long 
ago,  he  aspired  to  the  happiness  of  sacrificing 
his  life  for  his  flock.  I  will  describe  to  you  in  a 
few  words  the  circumstances  of  that  event. 

After  many  acts  of  hostility  had  been 
committed  on  both  sides  by  the  two  nations, 
a  little  army  of  Englishmen  and  their  savage 
allies,  numbering  eleven  hundred  men,  unex- 
pectedly came  to  attack  the  village  of  Narran- 
souak.  The  dense  thickets  with  which  that 
village  is  surrounded  helped  them  to  conceal 
their  movements;  and  since  it  was  not  inclosed 
by  palisades,  the  savages  were  taken  by  surprise 
and  became  aware  of  the  enemy's  approach 
only  by  a  volley  from  their  muskets,  which 
riddled  all  the  cabins.  At  that  time  there 
were  only  fifty  warriors  in  the  village.  At  the 
first  noise  of  the  muskets,  they  tumultuously 
seized  their  weapons,  and  went  out  of  their 
cabins  to  oppose  the  enemy.  Their  design  was 
not  rashly  to  meet  the  onset  of  so  many  com- 
batants, but  to  further  the  flight  of  the  women1 
and  the  children,  and  give  them  time  to  gain 
the  other  side  of  the  river,  which  was  not  yet 
occupied  by  the  English. 


232  The  Makers  of  Maine 

Father  Rale,  warned  by  the  clamor  and 
the  tumult  of  the  danger  which  was  menacing 
his  neophytes,  promptly  left  his  house  and 
fearlessly  appeared  before  the  enemy.  He 
expected  by  his  presence  either  to  stop  their 
first  efforts,  or  at  least  to  draw  their  attention 
to  himself  alone,  and  at  the  expense  of  his  life 
procure  the  safety  of  his  flock. 

Soon  as  they  perceived  the  missionary  a  gen- 
eral shout  was  raised  which  was  followed  by  a 
storm  of  musketshot  that  was  poured  upon 
him.  He  dropped  dead  at  the  foot  of  a  large 
cross  that  he  had  erected  in  the  midst  of  the 
village,  in  order  to  announce  the  public  pro- 
fession that  was  made  therein  of  adoring  a 
crucified  God.  Seven  savages  who  were 
around  him,  and  were  exposing  their  lives  to 
guard  that  of  their  father,  were  killed  by  his 
side.  The  death  of  the  shepherd  dismayed 
the  flock;  the  savages  took  to  flight  and  crossed 
the  river,  part  of  them  by  fording  and  part 
by  swimming.  They  were  exposed  to  all  the 
fury  of  their  enemies  until  the  moment  when 
they  retreated  into  the  woods  which  are  on  the 
other  side  of  the  river.  There  they  were 
gathered,  to  the  number  of  a  hundred  and 
fifty.  From  more  than  two  thousand  gun-shots 
that  had  been  fired  at  them  only  thirty  were 
killed  including  the  women  and  children,  and 
fourteen  were  wounded.  The  English  did  not 
attempt  to  pursue  the  fugitives;  they  were 
content  with  burning  and  pillaging  the  village; 
they  set  fire  to  the  church  after  a  base  profan- 
tion  of  the  sacred  vessels  and  of  the  adorable 
body  of  Jesus    Christ. 

The  precipitate  retreat  of  the  enemy  per- 
mitted the  return  of  the  Narrantsouakians  to 
the  village.  The  very  next  day  they  visited  the 
wreck  of  their  cabins,  while  the  women  on 
their  part,  sought  for  roots  and  plants  available 
for  treating  the  wounded.  Their  first  care 
was  to  weep  over  the  body  of  their  holy  mis- 


The  Death  of  Father  Rale  233 

sionary  they  found  it  pierced  by  hundreds  of 
bullets,  the  scalp  torn  off,  the  skull  broken  by 
blows  of  a  hatchet,  the  mouth  and  the  eyes 
filled  with  mud,  the  bones  of  the  legs  broken, 
and  all  the  members  mutilated.  This  sort 
of  inhumanity,  practised  on  a  body  deprived 
of  feeling  and  of  life,  can  scarcely  be  attributed 
to  any  one  but  to  the  savage  allies  of  the  English. 

After  these  devout  Christians  had  washed 
and  kissed  many  times*  the  honored  remains 
of  their  father,  they  buried  him  in  the  very 
place  where,  the  day  before,  he  had  celebrated 
the  Holy  Sacrifice  of  the  Mass — that  is,  in  the 
place  where  the  altar  had  stood  before  the 
burning  of  the  church. 

By  such  a  precious  death  did  the  apostolic 
man  finish,  on  the  23rd  day  of  August  in  that 
year,  a  course  of  thirty-seven  years  spent  in  the 
arduous  labors  of  this  mission.  He  was  in  the 
sixty-seventh  year  of  his  life.  His  fasting  and 
his  continual  hard  work  had  at  the  last  weak- 
ened his  constitution; he  had  walked  with  some 
difficulty  for  about  nineteen  years,  owing  to  the 
effects  of  a  fall  by  which  he  broke  at  the  same 
time  the  right  hip  and  the  left  leg.  Then  it 
happened,  since  the  callous  was  growing  wrong 
at  the  place  of  fracture,  that  it  became  necessary 
to  break  the  left  leg  again.  At  the  time  when 
it  was  most  violently  struck,  he  bore  that 
painful  operation  with  an  extraordinary  firm- 
ness and  an  admirable  tranquility.  Our 
physician,  who  was  present,  appeared  so  aston- 
ished at  this  that  he  could  not  refrain  from 
saying:  "Ah,  my  Father,  let  at  least  a  few 
groans  escape,  you  have  so  much  cause  for 
them'" 

The  reverend  writer  then  proceeds  to  pronounce 
a  well  deserved  panegyric  upon  Father  Rale,  speaking 
of  his  talents,  his  saintly  character  and  the  results  he 
accomplished.      His    closing  words  are:  "He  is  in  con- 


234  The  Makers  of  Maine 

sequence,  universally  regretted.  No  one  doubts  that 
he  was  sacrificed  through  hatred  to  his  ministry  and 
zeal  in  establishing  the  true  faith  in  the  hearts  of  the 
savages.  This  is  the  opinion  of  Monsieur  de  Bellemont, 
Superior  of  the  Seminary  of  Saint  Sulpice  at  Montreal. 
When  I  asked  from  him  the  customary  suffrages  for 
the  deceased,  because  of  our  interchange  of  prayers, 
he  replied  to  me,  using  the  well-known  words  of  Saint 
Augustine,  that  it  was  doing  injustice  to  a  martyr  to 
pray  for  him — Injuriam  facit  Martyri  qui  orat  pro  eo. 

"May  it  please  the  Lord  that  his  blood,  shed  for 
such  a  righteous  cause,  may  fertilize  these  unbelieving 
lands  which  have  been  so  often  watered  with  the  blood 
of  the  Gospel  workers  who  have  preceded  us;  that  it 
may  render  them  fruitful  in  devout  Christians,  and  that 
the  zeal  of  apostolic  men  yet  to  come  may  be  stimulated 
to  gather  the  abundant  harvest  that  is  being  presented 
to  them  by  so  many  people  still  buried  in  the  shadow 
of  death. 

"In  the  meantime,  as  it  belongs  only  to  the  Church 
to  declare  the  saints,  I  commend  him  to  your  holy 
sacrifices  and  to  those  of  all  our  Fathers.  I  hope  that 
you  will. not  forget  in  them  who  is,  with  much  respect, 
etc. — " 

Looking  back  over  the  history  of  our  State  from 
that  time  to  the  present,  it  would  seem  as  though  the 
pious  wish  of  Father  de  la  Chasse  were  prophetic,  and 
that  the  death  of  Father  Rale  had  borne  fruit. 


CHAPTER  XXXIV 

some  reflections  upon  cause  and 
Effects  in  History 

In  these  Essays  and  Tales  I  have  pursued  a  differ- 
ent method  of  dealing  with  history  from  that  usually 
followed  by  historical  writers.  The  method  commonly 
pursued  is  to  treat  at  considerable  length  and  with 
much  detail  the  history  of  the  great  and  important 
battles  between  the  English  and  the  French  which  had 
for  their  object  the  determining  of  which  flag  should 
finally  triumph;  and  to  consider  as  subordinate  the 
many  smaller  and  less  conspicuous  events  which  pre- 
ceded and  led  up  to  the  great  battles.  The  battles 
which  resulted  in  the  fall  of  Louisberg  and  Quebec  are, 
in  most  histories,  the  important  events,  and  the  rela- 
tion and  description  of  these  battles  occupy  the  most 
prominent  position  in  the  historical  narrative. 

In  these  Essays  and  Tales  I  have  made  much  of 
what  seems,  at  first  sight,  to  be  the  little  things,  the 
minor  events.  But  my  reason  is  that,  in  my  view  of 
history,  these  little  things,  these  minor  events,  which 
precede  and  lead  up  to  the  greater  events,  the  deciding 
battles,  often  contain  the  germs  of  the  great  events 
and  show  the  causes  and  reasons  of  the  great  events. 

The  fall  of  Louisberg  is  an  important  event  in  the 
history  of  our  country;  it  is  one  of  the  deciding  battles 
of  all  history,  not  so  momentous  as  the  fall  of  Quebec, 
but  doubtless  as  important,  for  it  foreshadowed  the 
fall  of  Quebec.     Yet,  to  my  view  of  history,  the  causes 


236  The  Makers  of  Maine 

that  led  up  to  Louisberg's  fate  are  more  important 
and  far  more  interesting  than  the  actual  siege 
and  battle. 

I  have  told  in  detail  the  story  of  the  life  of  Father 
Rale  at  Norridgewock  and  his  sad  death  at  the  hands 
of  the  English,  quoting  from  his  writings  in  order  that 
there  might  be  no  question  as  to  the  accuracy  of  the 
relation.  The  death  of  Father  Rale  had  an  important 
influence  on  the  course  of  history,  and  from  it  we  can 
trace  one  of  the  causes  of  the  loss  of  Louisberg  to  the 
French.  His  death  had  a  demoralizing  effect  upon 
the  Abenaki  Indians  of  Maine,  who  were  the  friends 
of  the  French,  and  it  had  consequently  a  dispiriting 
effect  upon  the  French  themselves  in  Acadia.  It  was 
not,  as  English  writers  would  have  us  believe,  that 
Father  Rale  inspired  the  Abenakis  to  fight  the  English; 
indeed,  the  veiy  writers  who  make  that  charge,  in  al- 
most the  same  breath  tell  us  that  the  Abenakis  were 
not  a  fight-loving,  warlike  race  like  most  of  the  other 
tribes.  The  truth  is  that  Father  Rale  lent  his  moral 
influence  to  the  just  claims  of  the  Abenakis  to  resist 
unjust  oppression  at  the  hands  of  the  English;  but  he 
never  inspired  them  to  attack  the  English.  But  as 
long  as  he  lived,  his  influence  was  a  strong  force  in 
keeping  the  Abenakis  courageous  to  defend  their  rights 
against  the  encroachments  of  the  English  who  were 
steadily  striving  to  push  them  back  and  to  get  their 
lands  away  from  them.  So  long  as  the  Abenakis  were 
able  to  defend  themselves  against  the  English  encroach- 
ments, the  weak  and  scattered  French  settlers  in  that 
part  of  Acadia  which  is  now  Maine  were  also  able  to 
hold  their  own. 

John  Fiske,  the  historian,  held  this  view  of  the 
history  of  this  period,  and  he  expressed  it  in  these 
words: — 


Some  Reflections  237 

"This  contest  over  the  Kennebec  River  was  typi- 
cal of  the  whole  struggle  between  the  French  and  the 
English.  On  the  one  hand,  there  was  the  steadily 
advancing  front  of  the  self-governing  and  greatly  thriv- 
ing agricultural  community;  on  the  other  hand,  there 
was  the  little  group  of  French  noblemen  and  priests 
governing  a  mere  handful  of  settlers,  and  striving  to 
keep  back  the  advancing  English  by  means  of  diplo- 
matic control  over  barbarous  Indians.  It  was  a  strug- 
gle which  could  really  have  but  one  issue.  '  It  was  a 
struggle,  moreover,  that  was  conducted  without  pity 
or  mercy,  with  scarcely  a  pretense  of  regard  for  the 
amenities  of  civilized  warfare.  Neither  side  was  par- 
ticularly scrupulous,  while  from  that  day  to  this,  each 
side  has  kept  up  a  terrible  outcrv  against  the  other 
for  doing  the  very  same  thing  which  it  did  itself.  From 
that  day  to  this,  English  writers  have  held  up  their 
hands  in  holy  horror  at  the  atrocious  conduct  of  the 
French  in  sending  savages  to  burn  villages  and  massacre 
women  and  children  on  the  English  border.  Yet  was 
it  not  an  English  governor  of  New  York  who  in  1689 
launched  the  Iroquois  thunderbolt  against  Canada, 
one  of  the  most  frightful  Indian  incursions  known  to 
history?  It  does  not  appear  that  the  conscience  of 
either  Puritan  or  Catholic  was  in  the  slightest  degree 
disturbed  by  these  horrors.  Each  felt  sure  that  he  was 
fighting  the  Devil,  and  thought  it  quite  proper  to  fight 
him  with  his  own  weapons."  (Fiske's  Historical 
Writings,  Vol.  IX,  "New  France  and  New  England," 
Page  239.) 

When  John  Fiske  admits  that  it  was  the  English 
governor  of  New  York  who  instigated  the  frightful 
Iroquois  invasion  and  massacre,  he  is  doing  a  good  deal, 
for  a  historian  of  the  prejudiced  class  that  I  have  men- 
tioned.    But    unfortunately,    he    feels    constrained    to 


238  The  Makers  of  Maine 

counterbalance  this  admission  with  a  blow  of  preju- 
dice against  the  Jesuit  Father  Rale,  in  the  next  breath. 
He  proceeds  to  say: — 

"On  the  Kennebec  frontier  the  problem  for  New 
France  was  to  prevent  English  villages  and  fortresses 
from  advancing  in  that  direction,  and  the  most  obvious 
way  of  accomplishing  the  result  was  to  instigate  the 
Indians  to  acts  of  warfare.  This  was  the  avowed  policy 
of  Vaudreuil,  and  it  was  carried  out  by  Father  Rale  to 
the  best  of  his  ability.  When  he  found  that  his  Nor- 
ridgewock  Indians  were  timid,  and  inclined  to  peace, 
he  sent  to  Montreal  and  caused  parties  of  warriors 
from  divers  tribes,  Ottawas,  Caughnawagas,  Hurons, 
and  others,  to  be  sent  to  the  Kennebec  River,  where 
all  engaged  in  a  frantic  war  dance,  and  quite  carried 
away  the  Norridgewocks  in  a  frenzy  of  bloodthirsty 
enthusiasm.  This  was  in  1721.  Then  began  the 
sickening  tale  so  many  times  repeated  in  early  Am- 
erican history, — the  tale  of  burning  homes,  of  youth 
and  beauty  struck  down  by  the  tomahawk,  and  of 
captives  led  away  through  the  gloom  of  the  forest  to 
meet  a  fiery  death.  Thus  in  turn,  the  English  govern- 
ment at  Boston  was  confronted  with  its  problems;  how 
to  put  a  stop  to  these  horrors  without  bringing  on  a 
new  war  with  France.  The  practical  New  England 
mind  saw  that  the  principal  hotbed  of  all  the  mischief 
must  be  destroyed,  and  if  a  Frenchman  or  two  should 
come  to  grief  in  the  process,  it  was  his  own  fault  for 
playing  so  recklessly  with  fire." 

How  cheerfully  Prof.  Fiske  looks  upon  the  death 
of  "a  Frenchman  or  two,"  (meaning,  of  course,  Father 
Rale,  or  any  other  Jesuit  who  happened  to  stand  in 
the  way  of  the  English  advance.)  How  cheerfully, 
compared  with  "the  sickening  tale"  of  English  who  were 
killed  by  the  Abnaki. 


Some  Reflections  239 

A  little  farther  on  Prof.  Fiske  in  a  few  words  tells 
the  story  of  the  English  expedition  which  surprised  the 
Abenaki  village  of  Norridgewock,  and  murdered  Fath- 
er Rale.  And  he  says:  "In  the  course  of  the  fight 
Father  Rale  was  shot  through  the  head.  Puritan 
writers  have  sought  to  stigmatize  this  interesting  man 
as  a  murderer,  while  Catholics  have  praised  him  as  a 
martyr.  In  the  impartial  light  of  history,  he  was 
neither  one  nor  the  other.  He  was  true  to  his  own  sense 
of  duty,  and  the  worst  that  can  be  said  about  him  is 
that  he  was  not  exceptionally  scrupulous  in  his  choice 
of  political  and  military  means;  while  on  the  other  hand, 
the  title  of  'martyr'  seems  hardly  to  belong  to  a  man 
who  was  killed  in  the  ordinary  course  of  battle,  not 
because  of  his  religious  faith,  but  because  he  was 
fighting  in  the  service  of  France." 

If  Prof.  Fiske's  historical  work  is  "the  light  of 
History,"  then  history  is  in  a  sad  way.  One  would 
naturally  expect  that  Fiske  would  cite  strong  historical 
authority  for  the  above  statement  about  Father  Rale. 
To  state  that  a  missionary  priest  was  fighting,  and  not 
even  fighting  for  his  religious  faith,  but  actually  fight- 
ing for  the  cause  of  France,  that  is,  that  he  was  not  a 
non-combatant,  as  a  priest  or  minister  is  supposed  to 
be  by  the  laws  of  all  nations,  but  was  engaged  in  battle 
as  an  active  combatant,  would  naturally  require  very 
good  original  historical  authority.  But  for  his  auth- 
ority, Prof.  Fiske  cites  Parkman's  "Half  Century  of 
Conflict."  That  is  to  say, — one  prejudiced  writer 
cites  another  prejudiced  writer  as  authority  for  his 
prejudices.  If  this  is  not  a  case  of  the  blind  leading 
the  blind  in  historical  writing,  then  no  other  such  ex- 
ample can  be  found  in  all  the  pages  of  history. 

It  is  enough  to  say  once  more,  that  the  best  histori- 
cal authority,  the  "Relations  of  the    Jesuits"     proves 


240  The  Makers  of  Maine 

beyond  question  that  Father  Rale  was  slain,  while 
unarmed  and  unresisting,  by  the  English  soldiers, 
and  afterwards  his  body  was  mutilated  almost  beyond 
recognition  by  the  Indian  allies  of  the  English,  without 
the  slightest  effort  having  been  made  by  the  English 
to  prevent  this  outrage. 

To  return  to  our  first  proposition, — that  the  death 
of  Father  Rale  and  the  dispersion  of  the  Abenakis 
and  the  weakening  of  the  French  settlements  in  Maine 
and  Acadia,  which  followed  upon  the  death  of  Rale, 
had  an  influence  leading  to  the  fall  of  Louisberg. 
The  facts  and  circumstances  which  the  course  of  history 
shows  were  the  causes  of  important  results,  are,  or 
ought  to  be,  of  more  interest  to  the  historian  than  the 
mere  chronicling  of  the  results  themselves. 

Thus,  we  are  able  to  trace  the  great  change  of  the 
sovereignity  of  this  soil,  from  France  to  England,  back 
to  the  attack  upon  the  Indian  village  of  Norridgewock 
and  the  death  of  Father  Rale;  and  further  again,  back 
to  the  "Argall  Outrage,"  wherein  the  English  Captain, 
Argall,  who  was  little  better  than  a  pirate,  attacked  the 
newly  founded  French  settlement  of  St.  Sauveur,  at, 
or  near  Mount  Desert  Island,  killed  the  Jesuit  Du 
Thet,  captured  as  prisoners  Fathers  Biard  and  Masse, 
and  dispersed  the  French  colonists  and  broke  up  the 
settlement.  For,  doubtless,  if  the  St.  Sauveur  settle- 
ment had  been  let  alone  by  the  English  and  allowed 
to  exist  and  prosper,  as  it  had  a  moral  and  legal  right 
to  do,  under  the  laws  of  all  nations,  the  French  would 
have  become  so  strong  in  Maine,  that  they  never  could 
have  been  dislodged  by  the  English,  Louisberg  would 
not  have  been  taken,  and  Quebec  would  not  have  fallen, 
and  finally  the  arms  of  France  would  have  remained 
triumphant  in  this  part  of  the  world  and  the  French 


Some  Reflections  241 

flag   would    still  wave  over  what  is  now     British  soil 
and  even  over  much  that  is  now  American. 

But  these  are  idle  speculations.  Let  us  return  to 
our  history  and  our  facts.  Let  us  consider  what  was 
the  situation  of  the  French  after  the  death  of  Father 
Rale. 


CHAPTER  XXXV 

The  Fall  of  Louisberg  and  the  Part  Taken 
Herein  by  the  Men  of  Maine 

Louisberg  was  situated  on  Cape  Breton  Island  in 
a  commanding  position  and  a  strategic  location.  It 
had  been  named  Louisberg  for  the  French  King.  In 
the  year  1720  the  French  began  a  system  of  fortifica- 
tions at  this  place  which,  when  they  were  finally  com- 
pleted, made  it  one  of  the  Gibraltars  of  the  World. 

Louisberg  occupied  a  central  position  with  refer- 
ence to  Quebec,  France,  and  the  West  Indies.  It 
stood  in  the  way  of  an  attack  upon  Quebec,  and  was  a 
base  of  supplies  for  the  French.  In  1744  France  and 
England  were  once  more  involved  in  war.  Governor 
Shirley  of  the  Massachusetts  Colony  conceived  the  pro- 
ject of  making  a  sudden  attack  on  Louisberg.  It  is 
said  that  the  project  was  suggested  to  him  by  William 
Vaughan,  a  son  of  the  Vaughan  who  had  been  lieuten- 
ant governor  of  New  Hampshire.  Francis  Parkman 
in  his  "Half  Century  of  Conflict,"  calls  it  "a  mad 
scheme."  The  Legislature,  with  great  reluctance,  auth- 
orized the  attack,  and  New  Hampshire,  Rhode  Island, 
and  Connecticut  joined  in  the  undertaking.  Gov. 
Shirley  selected  a  Maine  man,  William  Pepperell  of 
Kittery,  to  command  the  expedition.  He  was  not 
much  of  a  military  man,  but  made  up  for  his  lack  of 
military  knowledge  by  considerable  energy.  As  it 
turned  out,  his  very  energy,  precipitate  indeed,  was 
the  means  of  his  success  in  an  undertaking  at    which 


The  Fall  of  Louisberg  243 

perhaps  a  better  informed  military  man  would  have 
hesitated,  and  failed.  The  French  were  taken  by 
surprise,  not  expecting  so  sudden  an  attack. 

On  May  1st,  1745,  the  English  forces  made  a  land- 
ing at  Louisberg,  and  with  laudable  energy  and  de- 
termination, as  compared  with  the  French  defense, 
almost  at  once  captured  what  was  called  the  "Grand 
Battery,"  which  mounted  thirty  heavy  guns.  The 
French  made  no  real  defense  at  this  point,  practically 
abandoning  the  battery  without  resistance.  This  loss 
sealed  their  doom,  for  the  English  were  able  to  turn 
the  heavy  guns  of  the  battery  upon  the  town.  If  the 
French  had  held  out  here  and  made  a  good  and  stubborn 
defense  at  the  point  of  the  Grand  Battery,  they  would 
probably  have  held  Louisberg  successfully,  for  the 
English  force  was  not  really  adequate  to  the  achieve- 
ment. 

But  what  is  more  interesting  to  us  is  the  part  taken 
by  the  Englishmen  of  Maine  in  this  expedition.  A 
debt  of  gratitude  will  always  be  due  Dr.  Henry  S.  Bur- 
rage,  D.  D.,  Maine  State  Historian,  for  his  learned  and 
interesting  book,  published  in  1910, — "Maine  at  Louis- 
berg." He  has  there  perpetuated  for  future  genera- 
tions the  story  of  the  part  taken  by  the  Maine  men  in 
the  victory  over  the  French  at  Louisberg.  Besides 
the  commander  of  the  expedition,  William  Pepperell, 
whose  home  was  in  Kittery,  the  men  of  Maine  raised 
three  regiments,  numbering  2855  in  all.  Three  com- 
panies of  Maine  men  from  Waldo's  regiment  were 
among  the  first  in  the  attacking  party  which  captured 
the  Grand  Battery. 

It  is  one  of  the  marvels  of  the  history  of  warfare 
that  Louisberg  was  taken  so  easily,  and  at  so  little 
cost.  The  loss  of  the  English  troops  was  only  one 
hundred  and  thirty  men.     Burrage,  in  his  history  men- 


244  The  Makers  of  Maine 

tioned  above,  says:  "As  Pepperell  on  entering  the 
town  viewed  the  magnitude  and  strength  of  the  de- 
fenses, he  exclaimed,  'The  Almighty  of  a  truth  has 
been  with  us.' 

I  will  also  quote  these  significant  and  true  words 
of  Burrage:  "But  if  the  provincial  soldiers  were  not 
enriched  by  the  spoils  of  Louisberg,  they  received 
during  their  service  there  many  exceedingly  valuable 
lessons.  Best  of  all  they  learned  the  power  of  united 
action  in  the  execution  of  some  great  purpose.  It  was 
the  victory  at  Louisberg  that  inspired  them  with  the 
resolve  to  bring  to  a  speedy  end  French  influence  and 
French  dominion  on  this  continent.  Many  of  the 
men  from  Maine,  as  elsewhere  in  New  England,  who 
served  at  Louisberg,  served  also  in  the  armies  that  a  few 
years  later  at  Lake  George  drove  the  advancing  French 
forces  back  to  their  strongholds  on  the  St.  Lawrence,  to 
be  finally  overcome  by  Wolfe  on  the  Plains  of  Abraham 
in  1759.  Some  of  them,  and  many  of  their  sons,  were 
among  the  first  to  respond  to  the  Lexington  Alarm  in 
1775.  The  drums  that  were  heard  at  Louisberg  were 
heard  at  Bunker  Hill,  and  on  other  battlefields  of  the 
Revolution.  The  Louisberg  expedition  was  a  school 
for  the  New  England  militia.  Moreover  it  brought 
the  provinces  into  close  and  harmonious  relations,  and 
developed  that  power  which  was  at  length  mani- 
fested in  the  great  struggle,  which  was  finally  won  at 
Yorktown,  and  which  made  the  United  Colonies  the 
United  States." 

Those  words  are  the  truth;  and  it  is  interesting  to 
see  that  Dr.  Burrage  takes  that  view  of  history  which 
enables  the  reader  to  see  the  relation  of  cause  and  effect, 
and  to  see  that  every  event  in  history  must  be  regarded, 
not  as  individual  and  unconnected,  but  as  forming  links 
in  a  connected  chain.     And  even  the  most  insignificant 


The  Fall  of  Loeisburg  245 

and  unimportant  happening  is  like  the  dropping  of  a 
pebble  into  a  mill-pond, — its  influence  is  felt  to  the 
most  extreme  limits. 

The  taking  of  Louisberg  in  1745  always  seems  to 
me  a  more  interesting  event  than  the  second  capture 
in  1758.  The  credit  of  the  first  belongs  to  the  New 
England  colonists,  that  of  the  second  to  General  Wolfe, 
that  youthful  general  who  was  later  to  win  imperish- 
able glory  by  his  victory  over  Montcalm  and  his  death 
in  the  arms  of  victory. 

By  the  treaty  of  Aix-La-Chapelle,  which  closed  the 
war  between  France  and  England,  which  on  this  side 
of  the  ocean  had  resulted  in  the  fall  of  Louisberg  in 
1745,  Louisberg  was  restored  to  France.  Thirteen 
years  was,  however,  the  length  of  time  that  France 
was  able  to  hold  it.  Its  loss  seems  to  have  been  fated. 
But  during  these  thirteen  years  the  French  had  increas- 
ed the  armaments  and  strengthened  the  fortifications. 
So,  once  more,  when  the  English  set  out  to  capture 
the  place,  the  undertaking  seemed  foolhardy,  as  it  had 
seemed  the  first  time.  This  time,  it  was  the  genius 
and  dash  of  Wolfe  which  brought  success  to  the  arms 
of  England.  He  made  a  landing  of  his  detachment 
of  the  English  attacking  army  at  a  point  at  the  extreme 
west,  while  other  detachments  under  Admiral  Bos- 
cawen,  and  General  Amherst,  who  was  in  command 
of  the  land  forces,  landed  and  attacked  the  French  at 
other  points.  If  Wolfe  had  failed,  however,  the  whole 
attack  would  probably  have  failed.  But  he  succeeded 
in  cutting  between  the  left  flank  of  the  French  forces 
and  the  town,  thus  cutting  the  French  army  off.  Then 
he  marched  around  past  the  famous  "Grand  Battery," 
and  drove  the  French  from  a  part  of  the  works.  In 
the  meantime,  the  English  ships,  which  outnumbered 
the  French  kept  up  such  a  murderous   fire    upon  the 


246  The  Makers  of  Maine 

fortifications  and  the  town,  that  after  some  days  of 
fighting,  the  French  ships  were  all  destroyed,  except 
one  which  was  taken  as  a  prize,  and  the  forts  and  town 
so  badly  burnt  by  the  bombs  of  the  English  that  noth- 
ing was  left  for  the  French  but  to  surrender  Louisberg 
once  again,  and  this  for  the  last  time. 

As  I  have  said,  however,  this  second  talcing  of 
Louisberg  never  seems  so  interesting  an  event  in  history 
as  the  first;  and  moreover,  from  the  point  of  view  of 
one  who  feels  most  interest  in  the  exploits  of  the 
colonists,  the  credit  for  this  capture  belongs  to  England 
rather  than  to  the  colonists. 


CHAPTER  XXXVI 

Looking  Backward 

It  was  Charles  Lever,  I  believe,  who  wrote  in  the 
preface  to  one  of  his  novels  of  life  in  Ireland  in  the 
beginning  of  the  19th  century,  that,  in  his  opinion,  an 
author  should  write  his  preface  as  a  conclusion  to  his 
book,  to  be  read  and  considered,  after  the  book  had  been 
fully  assimilated.  I  do  not,  believe  however,  that  the 
thought  was  original  to  Lever. 

I  desire  to  call  the  reader's  attention  to  the  prop- 
ositions which  I  started  in  beginning  this  series  of 
Essays.  And  it  is  for  the  reason  that  I  believe  that 
I  have  fully  demonstrated  the  truth  of  my  proposition 
that  I  am  now  concluding. 

I  have  not  written  a  history  of  Maine  from  the 
earliest  explorations  down  to  any  particular  period. 
There  are  many  more  interesting  events  in  the  history 
of  Maine  which  I  might  treat  of,  but  to  do  so  would 
result  in  losing  sight  of  my  purpose,  and  to  change  a 
series  of  essays  into  a  poorly  digested  history.  In 
other  words,  to  confess  to  my  discerning  readers  that 
I  had  failed  as  an  essayist  by  attempting  to  cover  my 
retreat  with  the  filched  mantle  of  the  historian. 

No,  I  feel  that  I  can  safely  stop  here,  without 
trying  to  stir  the  reader's  heart  with  a  narrative  of  the 
fall  of  Quebec,  and  the  momentous  changes  in  the 
history  of  this  continent  which  that  event  brought 
about.     Let  the   memory   of  the   heroic  deeds  of  the 


248  The  Makers  of  Maine 

brave  and  modest  Wolf,  who  quoted  "Grey's  Elegy" 
on  the  eve  of  a  great  battle;  let  the  memory  of  the  chiv- 
alrous defense  of  his  adversary,  Montcalm,  rest  with 
the  able  and  eloquent  words  of  the  many  historians, 
English  and  the  French,  who  have  preserved  the  his- 
tory of  this  period  for  posterity.  I  have  no  desire  to 
pit  myself  against  them.  Nor  is  it  necessary  to  my 
purpose. 

I  have  brought  the  reader  down  to  the  eve  of  the 
great  change  of  sovereignty,  in  this  part  of  the  world, 
that  settled  forever  the  question  of  English  or  French 
supremacy  in  Maine;  that  settled  forever  the  fate  and 
destiny  of  the  Indian  races,  that  brought  about  the 
condition  of  human  affairs  in  the  colonies  bordering  the 
Atlantic  which  gave  birth  to  an  English-speaking,  free 
and  independent  nation. 

I  have  tried  to  sketch  a  picture  of  a  period,  and  a 
series  of  conditions,  in  the  history  of  our  state;  and  in 
doing  it,  I  believe  I  have  experienced  something  of  the 
feeling  which  the  artist  must  have,  in  despairing  of  his 
attempt  to  reproduce  the  effects  of  nature  with  his 
limitations  of  color  and  canvas;  for  that  period  was  a 
time  not  only  of  romantic  interest,  but  a  period  of 
history  to  understand  which,  and  to  explain  which, 
demands  the  best  efforts  of  the  profoundly  philosophic 
mind. 

Let  me  illustrate:  I  said  in  the  first  chapter  that 
the  opportunity  was  offered  here  to  the  white  man  to 
give  to  the  world  an  example  of  Christian  charity  and 
liberality,  and  that  it  was  lost  by  his  selfishness.  I 
have  tried  to  make  it  plain  that  the  events  of  history, 
considered  even  in  the  light  of  the  philosophy  of  the 
greatest  good  to  the  greatest  number,  show  that,  how- 
ever the  English  race  may  have  excelled  in  empire 
building,  it  has  failed  signally  in  that  it  has  not  accom- 


Looking  Backward  249 

plished  the  greatest  good  that  it  might,  and  ought 
to  have  accomplished  with  the  opportunities  it  had. 

I  began  early  in  the  series  to  show  by  quotations 
from  the  writings  of  the  first  explorers,  from  Jacques 
Cartier,  from  Samuel  de  Champlain,  from  Marc  Les- 
carbot,  and  from  others,  that  the  Indians  were  naturally 
a  friendly  race,  easily  inclined  to  adopt  the  Christian 
religion,  and  the  virtues  of  Christian  civilization.  The 
French,  made  them  allies  by  friendly  treatment.  We 
have  seen  that  the  Indian  speaks  frequently  of  "my 
brother,  the  Frenchman."  The  English  made  them 
implacable  enemies  by  brutal  treatment. 

Quotations  from  the  Protestant  historians,  Ban- 
croft, and  Francis  Parkman,  have  borne  out  my  con- 
tentions on  the  foregoing  points. 

We  have,  during  the  course  of  these  chapters, 
followed  the  footsteps  of  the  Jesuit  missionaries, 
from  Biard  and  Masse  down  to  Sabastian  Rale.  I 
do  not  want  to  recapitulate  now  the  facts  that  I  have 
proved  by  quotations  from  the  writings  of  those  great 
Jesuits,  as  I  think  they  are  too  fresh  in  the  readers' 
memory.  But,  I  will  recall  the  fact  that  I  have  proved 
that  history  shows  that  many  important  events  of 
great  interest  to  Catholics  have  happened  in  Maine. 
For  instance,  the  first  consecrated  host  made  from 
wheat  grown  on  American  soil  was  made  by  Father 
Biard,  S.  J.,  in  the  fall  of  the  year  1611  at  Port  Royal, 
Which,  as  I  have  shown  was  in  Acadia,  which  at  that 
time,  by  consent  of  all  nations,  included  nearly  all  of 
what  is  now  Maine.  Also,  the  first  Mass  celebrated 
in  Maine  took  place  in  October  1611  on  an  island  in 
the  lower  Kennebec.  Also,  the  first  martyr  was  Brother 
Gilbert  du  Thet,  who  was  killed  by  the  English  under 
Argall  at  St.  Sauveur. 

I  think  it  is  plain  to  all  fair  minded  readers  that 


250  The  Makers  of  Maine 

history  clearly  demonstrates  that  the  title  of  France 
to  the  soil  of  what  is  now  Maine  was  better 
than  the  title  of  England.  But  the  reader  will  re- 
member that  early  in  these  essays  I  quoted  from  the 
w  itings  of  Father  Biard  some  expressions  which  show 
that  he,  in  the  year  1616,  foresaw  the  downfall  of 
French  supremacy,  deducing  it  from  what  he  had  seen 
about  him  in  Acadia.  A  part  of  his  words  are  these: 
"I  shall  only  suggest  that  it  is  great  folly  for  small 
companies  to  go  there,  who  picture  to  themselves 
Baronies,  and  I  know  not  what  great  fiefs  and  demesnes, 
for  three  or  four  thousand  ecus  for  example,  which 
they  will  have  to  sink  in  that  country." 

But  however  sure  we  may  be  that  truth  and  jus- 
tice were  on  the  side  of  the  French  claim  to  the  title  of 
Maine,  Fate  has  spoken  its  last  word,  and  victory  ul- 
timately perched  upon  the  banner  of  England.  Un- 
reflecting people,  blinded  by  what  they  believe  is  pa- 
triotism, say, — "how  fortunate  it  was  that  the  arms 
of  England  were  triumphant,  and  the  question  of  French 
or  English  supremacy  on  this  continent  was  settled  as 
it  was  at  Quebec."  It  seems  to  me,  on  the  other  hand, 
strange  that  anyone  should  so  regard  the  result.  Was 
there  anything  backward  about  the  French  civilization 
that  the  pioneers  of  France  in  the  New  World,  those 
men  whose  daily  lives  read  like  a  romance,  could  not 
have  led  the  forward  march  of  the  world's  civilization  as 
safely  and  as  wisely  as  the  stern  New  England  Puritan 
and  the  leisure  loving  Southern  country-gentleman? 
In  one  matter  alone,  to  say  nothing  of  anything  else, 
can  there  be  any  doubt  that  a  different  fate  would  have 
befallen  the  Indian  tribes  if  their  welfare  and  their 
future  had  been  in  the  care  of  the  French  governors 
and  legislators,  who  treated  them  as  friends  and  broth- 


looking  Backward  251 

ers,    and  of  the    Jesuit  Fathers,    who  treated  them  as 
human  beings  with  a  soul  to  save? 

But  only  in  imagination  now  can  we  picture  tu 
oursleves  what  might  have  been  the  future  of  Maine 
once  a  part  of  old  Acadia,  had  the  noble  and  ambitious 
plans  of  the  pioneers  of  France,  of  Champlain,  de  Monts, 
Frontenac,  been  permitted  to  be  accomplished.  Only 
in  imagination  can  we  figure  to  ourselves  what  govern- 
ment, what  laws,  what  customs,  would  be  ours  to-day. 
But  such  dreams  are  only  for  antiquarians  and  students 
of  history,  whose  hearts  are  bound  up  in  the  lost  past. 
To  him  who  studies  history  to  apply  the  lessons  of  the 
past  to  the  problems  of  the  present,  such  dreams  are 
idle.  The  State  of  Maine  stands  to-day,  at  the  open- 
ing of  the  twentieth  century,  with  a  great  history  be- 
hind her,  and  the  promise  of  a  happy  and  prosperous 
future  before  her.  The  bitterness  and  hatred  of  re- 
ligious quarrels  are  dead  and  almost  forgotten.  But 
the  more  our  people  know  of  their  proud  history,  in 
the  great  days  of  the  making  of  Maine,  the  more  fa- 
miliar and  better  acquainted  they  become  with  the 
names  and  deeds  of  the  men  who  were  the  Makers  of 
Maine;  the  better  citizens  and  more  loyal  sons  of  Maine 
will  they  be,  for  they  will  then  know  that  their  State 
has  a  right  to  her  proud  motto, — "Dirigo,"  and  that 
it  is  their  duty  to  preserve  and  maintain  her  right  to 
lead  in  the  future,  as  she  lead  long  ago  in  the  making 
of  our  western  world. 


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